SOUTH PORTLAND, ME – Yesterday, bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) was signed into law. The VA Senior Executive Accountability (SEA) Act of 2018 will strengthen accountability of senior executives at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

There are numerous instances within the VA where Senior Executive Service (SES) employees used their leadership positions as leverage to be reassigned to another position for their own personal gain, or were reassigned, rather than disciplined, for poor performance. Following exposure of this practice, the VA halted their Appraised Value Offer (AVO) program, a program used to move senior executives that was often costly to taxpayers. Despite its past scandals, the VA has recently reinstated the AVO program.

“VA executives are tasked with a sacred responsibility: caring for the veterans who have sacrificed so much for our nation,” said Senator King. “This law will help increase transparency within the VA and ensure that senior VA executives are held accountable, so the agency can focus on its duty to our veterans and our nations.”

“Senior VA executives should not be using their positions for personal gain nor should the VA be using reassignments in place of disciplinary action or firing senior executives who have acted improperly,” said Senator Tillis. “The VA Senior Executive Accountability Act will address these problems by improving transparency and accountability within the VA and ensuring our veterans are being provided the best people to give them the care they need and deserve.” 

The VA Senior Executive Accountability Act will improve transparency by requiring the VA to inform Congress about where senior executives are being moved. Further, this legislation will require the secretary to approve of a reassignment of the VA’s approximately 350 SES employees and submit a semiannual report to Congress detailing the reason as to why the employees were reassigned and the associated costs.

Companion legislation, H.R. 2772, was originally introduced by Congressman Scott Taylor (R-VA-02) and unanimously passed the House of Representatives on July 28, 2017. The Senate passed H.R. 2772 with an amendment by Senators King and Tillis on May 16, 2018, and the legislation unanimously passed the House of Representatives with the Tillis-King amendment on June 7, 2018.