Trump creates accountability office at Veterans Affairs Dept.
WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump on Thursday created an office at the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve accountability and protect whistle-blowers, calling it a “bold step forward.”
Trump, who made improving veterans’ care a prominent issue in his presidential campaign, said the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection will make clear “that we will never, ever tolerate substandard care for our great veterans.” VA Secretary David Shulkin said the office will help identify “barriers” that make it difficult for the department to fire or reassign bad employees.
Another function of the office will be to help shield whistle-blowers from retaliation.
“With the creation of this office, we are sending a strong message: Thosewho fail our veterans will be held, for the first time, accountable,” Trump said at the VA before signing an executive order to create the office. “And at the same time, we will reward and retain the many VA employees who do a fantastic job, of which we have many.”
The move follows Trump’s signing last week of a bill that extends a VA program that allowed some veterans to seek medical care outside of the department’s troubled health system.
Trump also joined veterans’ groups in calling on the Senate to pass a pending accountability measure.
The House has already passed a bill to make it make it easier for the VA to fire, suspend or demote employees for poor performance or bad conduct, but the Senate continues to work on its version of the legislation.