Changes are intended to enhance accountability and provide more visibility when agencies' review of potential misconduct takes longer than Congressional expectations. Image: Lightspring/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Office of Special Counsel has acted to further increase attention to delayed responses by agencies to whistleblower disclosures, by starting to publicly post a summary of the allegations when an agency has not responded within 90 days after the OSC has referred disclosures for investigation.
That follows the OSC’s action last year to start posting information including the name of the agency and the date of the referral when an agency has not met the standard in law to complete such investigations within 60 days.
“While the law allows OSC to grant an extension of that deadline for an agency to complete its investigation, too often agencies are taking far longer to provide a satisfactory response. These changes are intended to enhance government accountability and provide more public visibility when agencies’ review of potential misconduct takes longer than Congressional expectations,” the OSC said.
In an initial summary of a referral more than 90 days old, the OSC cited a whistleblower’s allegations that Interior Department emergency dispatchers “do not have adequate training to perform their jobs, and dispatchers and law enforcement officers lack proper equipment.”
The OSC meanwhile criticized the VA’s review of disclosures it referred there alleging that the VA lacked plans and procedures to address a backlog of some $110 million in refunds owed to nearly 1 million veterans, dating as far back as 2012, due to changes in a veteran’s service-connected condition or charges billed in error.
“Following a review of more than six months, the agency’s report merely confirmed the existence of the backlog and acknowledged the need for a national strategy to address it . . . Saying you should develop a plan is not a plan,” the OSC said, adding that it will continue to press the issue “under the most formal process allowed by law.”
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