House votes ease rules for firing VA employees
The House today voted 310-116 to make it easier to fire or punish employees of the Veterans Administration.
Rep. Mark Takano (Calif.), the VA committee’s ranking Democrat, led an unsuccessful floor fight to soften the misconduct provisions, as the Republican majority defeated every substantive amendment. In the end, with Miller citing support from 18 prominent veteran groups, 69 Democrats joined the united Republican front to pass the bill convincingly.
It would shorten the process to fire, demote or hear the appeal of rank-and-file VA employees, from an average of more than a year to no more than 77 days. It also would end involvement of the Merit Systems Protection Board in such actions for VA senior executives; give the VA secretary authority to recoup bonuses and relocation expenses from employees who misbehave, or to reduce pensions of senior executives convicted of felonies that influenced their performance reports. Additionally whistleblowers would get new protections from reprisals and the bill would mandate strict accountability to supervisors or colleagues who would reprise against them, the VA committee explained.
This bill should become the model for changing the rules for all federal employees. Right now it is so difficult to clean house of corrupt or incompetent federal employees that there are even circumstances where they actually commit crimes and steal federal money and still hold onto their jobs.
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The House today voted 310-116 to make it easier to fire or punish employees of the Veterans Administration.
Rep. Mark Takano (Calif.), the VA committee’s ranking Democrat, led an unsuccessful floor fight to soften the misconduct provisions, as the Republican majority defeated every substantive amendment. In the end, with Miller citing support from 18 prominent veteran groups, 69 Democrats joined the united Republican front to pass the bill convincingly.
It would shorten the process to fire, demote or hear the appeal of rank-and-file VA employees, from an average of more than a year to no more than 77 days. It also would end involvement of the Merit Systems Protection Board in such actions for VA senior executives; give the VA secretary authority to recoup bonuses and relocation expenses from employees who misbehave, or to reduce pensions of senior executives convicted of felonies that influenced their performance reports. Additionally whistleblowers would get new protections from reprisals and the bill would mandate strict accountability to supervisors or colleagues who would reprise against them, the VA committee explained.
This bill should become the model for changing the rules for all federal employees. Right now it is so difficult to clean house of corrupt or incompetent federal employees that there are even circumstances where they actually commit crimes and steal federal money and still hold onto their jobs.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
My Mother ran the VA food services at their Portland hospital till 1980, when she retired. She used to tell the story of firing a lettuce chopper. He was coming into work drunk so often that he was hurting himself with the chopping instruments, and then taking sick leave for weeks, because sousing himself with alcohol slowed healing. She finally fired him, and the appeals processes began. She had to carry him through alcohol rehab, which did no good, and retraining, and further Union-led appeals, till she finally saw him out the door 18 months after starting the firing. Meanwhile he depressed morale in the rest of the kitchen bitching about how she “had it in for him”.
The worst thing is that I understand those are now looked on as “the good old days” by those who must fire such a person from the VA today. Perhaps these changes will do some good. Until the Public Employee Unions are removed, I doubt it will help much. Thus, IMHO, we should simply banish the VA to the history museum of socialist failures.
Anyone think Obama will sign this bill should it survive an attempt by the Senate minority leader to filibuster it?
An Obama veto was my first thought as well, but if the sponsors survive the election and have backbone (far from a sure thing), they may have a chance to resubmit it to President Trump. I’m no fan of the guy, but in a case like this, I have more confidence in his desirability than in Hillary’s.
I’m more and more inclined to hold my nose and vote for him, which I’m used to doing in every post Reagan election, but this vote may require that I wear a hazmat suit in addition to holding my nose.
Tom/ DK/ Garry–
-many good points, all.
Garry– yes, excellent analogy. Complete hazmat suit… (damn..an Iron-Man Suit!)
Ryan has allowed, occasionally, the House to crank out some good legislation and the Conservative Caucus has kept up pressure, but its largely been ineffective.
Then, these Bills have to go to the Senate, and Mitch is in no hurry to push anything through, and Mitch/Ryan do NOT do clean-bills or over-rides of anything Obama does.
The House can always pass this type of Legislation and present it to a President Trump, at any time.
(I would maintain however, “Washington is well beyond the ability to actually reform itself.” Personally, I’m getting actively involved in the Article 5 Movement, no matter who gets elected, ‘cuz one election won’t fix this & we can’t just give up after we vote in November. It’s that important.)
wayne said:
“…(I would maintain however, “Washington is well beyond the ability to actually reform itself.” Personally, I’m getting actively involved in the Article 5 Movement, no matter who gets elected, ‘cuz one election won’t fix this & we can’t just give up after we vote in November. It’s that important.)…”
Correct. When is the last time a Federal Agency (or State for that matter) went away?
The VA, the poster child for why single-payer is a bad idea, needs to be abolished. The IRS needs to be abolished. The Commerce, Energy, and Education agencies all need to be abolished. ETC ETC ETC
Will President Trump do any of that? I doubt it. And if he can’t as a “change-agent”, then who ever could?
Wayne is right, the Convention will be our last hope of bringing sanity back to an insane government….
Steve Earle–
Right with you on all this!
(One of) the first thing we do, is repeal the 17th Amendment.
The House is elected by the People, the Senate is supposed to represent individual States, not be popularly elected & morph into “National Senators.” They are not even constrained by the States they claim to represent.
The Federal Government is a creation of the States, and at this juncture, only the States can fix it.
–Another proposed Amendment, is “12 year term limits,” for all Federal Offices, including the Judiciary. And that’s 12 years combined, between any office. None of this “get elected and stay for infinity” stuff.
I’m perfectly willing to give up “accumulated Institutional knowledge,” for the reason, they have demonstrated time-and-again, they can’t be trusted to act in the best interests of the people.
Steve Earle asked: “When is the last time a Federal Agency (or State for that matter) went away?”
The only one that I am aware of is the NRA, National Recovery Administration. It went away when the Supreme court ruled that it was unconstitutional. However, it may have been reincarnated as the National Labor Relations Board, so I don’t know whether that counts as “went away.”