by Isaac Arnsdorf
Last June, President Donald Trump fulfilled a campaign promise
by signing a bipartisan bill to make it easier to fire employees of the
Department of Veterans Affairs. The law, a rare rollback of the federal
government’s strict civil-service job protections, was intended as a
much-needed fix for an organization widely perceived as broken. “VA
accountability is essential to making sure that our veterans are treated
with the respect they have so richly earned through their blood, sweat
and tears,” Trump said that day. “Those entrusted with the sacred duty
of serving our veterans will be held accountable for the care they
provide.”
At the time, proponents of the bill repeatedly emphasized that it
would hold everyone — especially top officials — accountable: “senior
executives,” stressed Senate Veterans Committee chair Johnny Isakson;
“medical directors,” specified Trump; anyone who “undermined trust” in
the VA, according to Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin. Shulkin
advocated for the measure, called the VA Accountability and
Whistleblower Protection Act, by highlighting a case in which the agency had to wait 30 days to fire a worker caught watching porn with a patient.
“I do not see this as a tool that’s going to lead to mass firings,” Shulkin said last June.
“I would never support that as secretary. I see this as a tool that’s
going to be used on a small number of people, who clearly have deviated
from accepted practices and norms.”
The law’s effect was nearly instantaneous: Firings rose 60 percent
during the second half of 2017, after the law took effect, compared to
the first half of 2017. Since June, the VA has removed 1,704 of its
370,000 employees.
But if top officials were the target of the law, a ProPublica
investigation suggests the legislation misfired. In practice, the new
law is overwhelmingly being used against the rank and file. Since it
took effect, the VA has fired four senior leaders. The other 1,700
terminated people were low-level staffers with titles such as
housekeeper (133 lost their jobs), nursing assistant (101 ousted) and
food service worker (59 terminated), according to data posted by the VA.
Click here for the full article.
Source: ProPublica
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