McCaskill Slams Retaliation Against Whistleblowers, Renews Call for Permanent Watchdog at VA

Senator calls for passage of her legislation requiring firing of VA employees who retaliate against whistleblowers— Admonishes Administration for lacking permanent Inspector General for more than 600 days

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today slammed incidents of whistleblower retaliation at the VA, and called for the passage of her bill that mandates the firing of employees found to have retaliated against whistleblowers. McCaskill also raised concerns about the lack of a permanent watchdog at the VA—a position that has not had a permanent head in more than 600 days—and addressed the consequences of budget cuts due to sequestration on the VA’s ability to handle whistleblower complaints.

“I need the numbers,” said McCaskill, a senior member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, on how many personnel have been fired for retaliation. “I need to know if there is a determination either by the [Inspector General] or by the Office of Special Counsel that retaliation has occurred—I need to know how many instances that determination has been made, and someone was disciplined as opposed to fired. Do you believe if this bill passes and it requires the firing of someone who retaliates, that that would have the impact that we’re looking for here in this very troubling area?”

McCaskill has renewed a bill that was first introduced in the wake of the VA scandal last year, which included claims of whistleblower retaliation. The bill mandates the firing of any VA employee found to have retaliated against a whistleblower. Currently, a finding of retaliation against a whistleblower is punishable by a range of penalties, including fines and reprimand.

McCaskill also addressed the lack of a permanent Inspector General at the VA, saying: “I believe it’s time to think about having a clock. And if the Administration has not appointed an Inspector General, after 6 months at an agency that has 35 percent of the whistleblower [retaliation] complaints in the federal government, then [the deputy Inspector General] gets the job, she becomes the Inspector General because the Administration has failed to act. I don’t know how else to do this.”

McCaskill, along with Republican Senators Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, John McCain of Arizona, and Joni Ernst of Iowa, also recently repeated their call for the appointment of a permanent watchdog at the Department of Veterans Affairs—a position that has not had a permanent head in more than 600 days. McCaskill has repeatedly called on the Administration to fill vacant watchdog positions, and called on President Obama as recently as June of this year to specifically fill the vacant VA Inspector General position, but so far there is still no nominee. 

McCaskill is also backing new legislation aimed at addressing workforce shortages and personnel challenges at the VA after the agency outlined the specific obstacles it has faced installing a permanent regional director in the St. Louis region, which provides mental and physical health care services to almost 46,000 veterans each year. McCaskill, along with follow Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, recently wrote to VA Secretary Robert McDonald, urging the installation of a permanent director at the St. Louis VA, which has been vacant for years.

Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/veterans to learn more about McCaskill’s fight for military veterans.

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