Senate bill would give VA chief more powers to punish officials

A group of Republican senators on Thursday introduced a bill that would give Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald new powers to punish “corrupt executives” inside the agency.

The Increasing VA Accountability to Veterans Act would allow McDonald to reduce the pensions of executives convicted of a crime, limit the amount of time senior executives can spend on paid administrative leave to 14 days and reform the agency’s performance appraisal system so that only 30 percent managers can get bonuses.

{mosads}Executive bonuses became a flashpoint last year as lawmakers negotiated a bill to overhaul the beleaguered VA, with many left fuming that the bill didn’t do enough to keep incompetent managers from being rewarded.

“Despite the passage of the Choice Act last year, the VA is still not doing enough to hold those responsible accountable for their corrupt behavior when treating our nation’s veterans,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a statement.

“The television cameras may have turned their focus elsewhere, but we will not. This legislation will help make certain VA senior executives found guilty of crimes that put veterans’ lives at risk are held accountable,” he added.

The bill — co-sponsored by GOP Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), John McCain (Ariz.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) — is a companion bill to a measure unveiled earlier this month by House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.).

“While the Veterans’ Choice Act made progress toward reforming the VA, much more needs to be done to end the corrupt culture that led to the scandal of delayed and denied veteran care, which first began at the Phoenix VA last year,” McCain said.