WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, introduced legislation to strengthen the Department of Veterans Affairs’ authority to hold poor-performing employees accountable.

“America’s veterans made profound sacrifices to defend our freedoms and preserve our way of life,” said Risch. “The Restore VA Accountability Act ensures that the VA is held to the highest standards and honors veterans’ selfless service with the care and respect they rightfully deserve.”

“While VA employs some of the finest men and women, it only takes a few bad employees to disrupt the culture and service at the VA,” said Sen. Moran. “Veterans are best served when VA leaders have the ability to act swiftly to remove bad employees from the VA workforce. This bill would restore the intent of Congress and help make certain that veterans receive the high-quality care and benefits they’ve earned and VA staff have the healthy workplace they deserve.”

The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

In 2017, Congress passed the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act with overwhelming bipartisan support in response to the nationwide VA access crisis that exposed a toxic workforce culture at VA that negatively impacted veterans’ care. Passage of this legislation gave VA leaders the ability to break through bureaucratic obstacles to discipline or fire poor-performing employees, providing VA employees a healthier workplace and increasing veterans’ trust in VA. The Restore VA Accountability Act addresses questionable decisions from the Federal Circuit, the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the Merit Systems Protection Board that rendered the authority in the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act unusable for most of the VA workforce.

The Restore VA Accountability Act strengthens accountability by unlocking expedited disciplinary processes for VA employees, ensuring that decisions backed by substantial evidence are upheld on appeal, removing the need for a performance improvement plan before disciplinary action, and aligning accountability processes for poor-performing managers with that of senior executives.