WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is among senators seeking an independent investigation of problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs from a respected Senate subcommittee.  Grassley also co-sponsored legislation that would make it easier to fire senior employees at the veterans agency over poor performance.   This is in addition to his effort to make sure the agency’s independent watchdog conducts a national investigation, ideally including any problems in Iowa, and his work to try to limit paid leave for employees under investigation in the veterans scandal.
            
“The alleged problems are as serious as they can be,” Grassley said.  “Getting to the bottom of what’s really going on for our veterans requires all hands on deck.  It requires finding out what happened and fixing every condition that led to poor treatment of veterans, including firing anyone found responsible for malfeasance.”

Grassley signed a letter from Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), sent by 25 senators, to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, calling for an immediate, independent investigation of mismanagement, incompetence and corruption at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The letter, sent to Subcommittee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Subcommittee Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.), urges swift action from the subcommittee, which is “tasked with studying and investigating the compliance or noncompliance with rules, regulations and laws, investigating all aspects of crime and lawlessness within the United States which have an impact upon or affect the national health, welfare and safety.”  The committee is generally respected for conducting thorough investigations.

This week, Grassley co-sponsored legislation from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to make it easier for the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire senior employees for performance problems.

Along similar lines, Grassley wrote to the Veterans Affairs secretary this week, seeking details of department leave policy to ensure that employees put on leave over the scandal are not allowed long periods of paid leave, or, in effect, “paid vacations.”

The senators’ letter seeking an investigation from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation is available here.

Details of the bill making it easier to fire senior employees for poor performance are available here.

More information on Grassley’s letter on extended leave for Veterans Affairs employees is available here.

More information on Grassley’s effort to seek a thorough inspector general review of the veterans scandal is available here.
 

 

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