WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bipartisan amendment backed by U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) that protects the mission of the VA Inspector General (IG) was successfully added to the 2019 VA funding bill. The IG is the independent watchdog tasked with investigating misconduct and waste of taxpayer dollars at the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA), and this amendment would ensure it could investigate, audit, and conduct oversight of the nation’s largest health care system without being hindered by political delays, non-cooperation and stall tactics by the VA. The amendment comes after VA leaders recently refused to comply with the IG’s request for information, counter to requirements of the King-backed Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, which was signed into law last year.

“In order to ensure that our veterans are receiving the care they have earned, the VA must be completely open and transparent,” said Senator King. “One part of that transparency is independent oversight; this is why the IG exists, and why it must be allowed to conduct its work without interference or delay from VA leadership.”

In addition to King, the amendment was cosponsored by Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Doug Jones (D-Ala.).

The Senate approved the King-backed amendment last night with a vote of 96-0. It reads as follows:

(a) None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to deny an Inspector General funded under this Act timely access to any records, documents, or other materials available to the department or agency over which that Inspector General has responsibilities under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), or to prevent or impede that Inspector General’s access to such records, documents, or other materials, under any provision of law, except a provision of law that expressly refers to the Inspector General and expressly limits the Inspector General’s right of access.

(b) A department or agency covered by this section shall provide its Inspector General with access to all such records, documents, and other materials in a timely manner.

(c) Each Inspector General shall ensure compliance with statutory limitations on disclosure relevant to the information provided by the establishment over which that Inspector General has responsibilities under the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.).

(d) Each Inspector General covered by this section shall report to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate within 5 calendar days any failures to comply with this requirement.