Disciplinary Issues Likely to Arise

One change in law made last year on a bipartisan basis is seen as setting a precedent for further action government-wide this year: the VA was allowed to discipline senior executives with only a shortened appeal process allowed at the MSPB. Numerous other proposals that also passed the House, although not the Senate, as a result of the VA patient care and scheduling scandal likely will be repeated, with better prospects for passage in the restructured Congress. Those include a proposal to set the standard probationary period, in which disciplinary actions can be taken with only limited appeal rights, for all SES members at two years, rather than one; end the eligibility of those demoted from the SES for performance reasons to retain their SES pay rate; and broaden the definition of misconduct that can be the basis of disciplinary action, among other changes. Other House-passed bills targeted performance awards and job security of lower level employees implicated in scandal or who retaliated against whistleblowers. Those also could resurface, as well as a long-running proposal from the new chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, to require the firing of those who have a federal tax lien against them (and a similar ban on hiring applicants) unless they are taking steps to pay what they owe.