Several VA Bills Advance

The House has approved HR-4974, a budget bill for VA including a provision barring performance awards to senior executives there, a provision the Obama administration opposes, although it did not threaten a veto because of it. The Senate further has passed HR-2577, a separate VA spending bill, which among other things would strengthen protections for VA whistleblowers and require discipline, including mandatory firing on a second offense, of those who retaliate against them; similar language is in S-2921. Also, the House Veterans Affairs Committee has passed HR-4138, to allow the VA to claw back relocation incentive payments already paid to employees, subject to challenge only through an internal hearing, at the department’s discretion. The full House already has passed HR-280, setting a similar policy for awards already paid. The measures are aimed at situations where misconduct during the pertinent time is discovered later.