And so, once again, where is VA Secretary Robert McDonald? Oh, he only agreed to 5 recommendations and they are rather thin on solutions or substance. The shame continues, this agency needs to be turned over to the FBI for full agency wide investigations and a special prosecutor needs to be assigned.
The VA Deputy Secretary agreed to:
Review and make improvements to request and approval processes related to VA’s PCS Relocation program. Consult with the Office of General Counsel to determine whether bills of collection should be issued to VBA Senior Executives for improper relocation expense reimbursements and unjustified relocation incentives. Consult with the Office of General Counsel to determine what actions may be taken to hold the appropriate Senior Officials accountable for processing and approving payments of unjustified relocation incentive payments. Confer with the Office of Human Resources and Administration, the Office of Accountability Review, and the Office of General Counsel to determine the appropriate administrative action to take, if any, against several VBA Senior Executives.
The OIG’s results demonstrate a need for VA to strengthen controls and oversight over the use of these funds to improve the financial stewardship of taxpayer’s funds.
Executives at the Department of Veterans Affairs invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer questions about whether they abused a program that compensates them for taking jobs in other states, during a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee Monday evening.
Diane Rubens and Kimberly Graves, two VA officials cited in a scathing inspector general report in September, had to be subpoenaed to appear before the committee after refusing to appear to an earlier hearing. But while the subpoena got them in the room, the two declined to answer any questions.
“Requiring these individuals or any individuals to appear is not meant to embarrass them,” Rep. Jeff Miller, who chairs the VA committee, said before questioning the witnesses Monday night.
Executives at the VA netted $2 million by abusing the relocation program, the VA’s inspector general found in a September report.
The report alleged Rubens had created a less-demanding position for herself in Philadelphia, billing the agency for $274,000 in moving expenses and retaining her six-figure salary despite having fewer duties in the new job.
Graves was accused of pressuring Antoine Waller, another VA official present at the hearing, to move positions so she could accept a job and reap the relocation benefits.
Waller, who did not waive his rights, testified that he was indeed pressured to accept a position in the VA’s Baltimore office.
Rubens and Graves are both still employed at the VA pending an appeals process. Danny Pummill, principal deputy under secretary for benefits at the VA, told the committee he was advised by the VA’s legal team that he could not update the committee on how or whether the VA planned to punish the two executives.
Rep. Corrine Brown, the committee’s top Democrat, said the relocation scandal was further evidence of the “culture of cronyism” that exists in the VA.
Allison Hickey, the VA’s former top benefits official, did not respond to a congressional request to appear at Monday’s hearing. Hickey resigned shortly after the inspector general report was released.
Pummill sought to deliver his own prepared testimony at the hearing. But committee chairman Miller refused to let him, after the VA had repeatedly refused to provide the panel with an advance copy.
Hillary Clinton drew national attention to the VA when she said Republicans had exaggerated problems at the agency in an effort to privatize it.
