WASHINGTON - The hiring and firing processes within the Department of Veterans Affairs dominated the conversation at Wednesday’s House veterans affairs committee meeting. Committee members met to review the agency’s accountability this year.
Several lawmakers voiced frustrations with the VA’s recent decision to demote but not fire two high level officials accused of misusing relocation funds, one of whom now holds a position in Phoenix. Many said the punishment was too light.
VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson defended the action saying the evidence didn’t fully support the opinion from the office of the inspector general.
"It does not support one violation of law, not one violation of rule, not even one violation of regulation related to relocation expenses. The easy option for me would have been to propose removal," said Gibson. "I didn’t come to VA to do the easy thing. I came here to do the right thing."
Other committee members focused on the time it takes to terminate employees accused of serious wrongdoing, citing former Phoenix VA director Sharon Helman’s case as an example.
Gibson added the agency will be changing the way it handles rule breaking cases like these by immediately launching their own investigations rather than waiting for the IG’s office to finish a separate probe.
