VA reinstated 100 workers fired under the sweeping law, and paid $134 million to hundreds more

The Department of Veterans Affairs has reinstated more than 100 former employees under a law that once made it easier to remove staff accused of misconduct.

The department also paid about $134 million to 1,700 former VA employees who were fired during the Trump administration. VA Whistleblower Liability and Protection Act 2017.

The VA agreed to these actions, as part of a settlement it reached with the American Federation of Government Employees in July 2023.

News media widely reported the terms and conditions of the settlement last year. But specific details of the deal were first reported earlier this month by Fox News and the America First Policy Institutebased on documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.

A VA spokesperson said in a statement that the department “has prevented bad actors from returning to work and saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Ministry officials said only 3% of the 4,000 workers laid off under the law have been laid off VA Whistleblower Liability and Protection Act 2017 – approximately 120 individuals – have returned to work at the VA, and that no employees fired for serious misconduct have been rehired.

“VA continues to hold every employee accountable for delivering the world-class care and benefits veterans deserve — and if they don’t, we will take swift and decisive action,” a VA spokesperson said.

VA officials said the department, under the Trump administration, failed to negotiate with AFGE on implementation of the 2017 law, violating the terms of its contract with the union.

The department defended its position in court between 2017 and 2023, but federal courts and arbitrators repeatedly ordered the VA to rehire workers it fired under the 2017 legislation.

“The previous administration’s implementation of the 2017 law was repeatedly rejected by the courts, leaving VA at risk of rehiring individuals who had committed patient abuse, harassment, and criminal activity — and leaving taxpayers on the hook for more than $1 billion,” a VA spokesperson said.

Federal judges and the Merit Systems Protection Board also blocked many of the provisions of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act from covering a majority of the VA workforce.

VA leaders decided that starting in April 2024, the department would no longer use the authorities in the legislation to expedite the firing of employees accused of misconduct.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough told reporters in March that the legislation has not helped the department fire poor performers, and that the department has the resources needed to hold employees accountable.

“To be honest…it didn’t really help us manage our workforce, but it did get us in front of federal judges and administrative agencies,” McDonough said. “So we want to make sure that we use the powers that we do have.”

In a July 2023 settlement, AFGE and the VA agreed to give thousands of former employees, fired for minor violations under the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, a choice between reinstatement or compensation.

As part of the settlement, AFGE and the VA agreed to uphold the termination of hundreds of other former VA employees who engaged in serious misconduct.

Robert Wilkie, a former VA secretary under the Trump administration and now a leading member of AFPI’s Center for American Security, said the VA’s compensation and reinstatement of former employees has “failed America’s veterans and taxpayers.”

“Those discharged for assaulting America’s veterans should not even be allowed near the VA, let alone reinstated,” Wilkie said in a statement.

VA leaders under the Biden administration say they have the necessary tools to discipline and remove employees accused of misconduct.

However, members of the House and Senate VA committees introduced bills this session of Congress that would change the way the department deals with underperforming employees.

A bipartisan group of senators introduced the Leadership, Engagement, Accountability and Development Act (LEAD) of 2023.

The bill would standardize the way the VA builds a case against employees facing allegations of misconduct or poor performance, and train the entire VA workforce on the ins and outs of the process.

Senate VA Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) introduced the legislation last year, along with Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.).

“While VA has the ability and authority to remove bad actors today, delays and reductions in penalties may occur, largely due to inconsistent processes and paperwork deficiencies,” the senators wrote in a summary of the bill.

The LEAD Act also calls on the VA to keep its medical facilities staffed when employees under investigation are pulled from their medical front lines.

VA’s top HR officials supported core elements of the LEAD Act. But her rejected efforts by House lawmakers to have the department once again expedite the dismissal of employees, using a lower level of evidence to prove misconduct or poor performance.

department officials said record high trust scores from veterans are a sign that the VA is holding employees accountable.

Meanwhile, the VA announced it provided more health care and benefits to more veterans than ever before, breaking previous records.

The department provided 127.5 million healthcare appointments for veterans in fiscal year 2024 – a 6% increase over the previous year.

The VA also provided $187 billion in benefits to 6.7 million veterans and survivors in fiscal year 2024. It processed more than 2.5 million claims for disability benefits – a 27% increase over last year’s record.

McDonough said in a speech Tuesday that “by almost every metric, the VA is breaking the records we set last year.”

“It’s not just about more care. It’s better world-class care and better health outcomes for veterans than in the private sector. It’s not just more benefits, it’s faster, more accessible benefits that we provide by meeting vets where they are, rather than expecting them to come to us,” McDonough said at the National Press Club.

The VA sees this record workload under the PACT Act. The 2022 bill expands health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service.

More than 796,000 veterans have enrolled in VA health care since the PACT Act was signed into law. That’s an increase of nearly 37%, compared to the approximately two-year period before the PACT Act was signed into law.