WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) yesterday introduced the Veteran’s Affairs Senior Executive Accountability (SEA) Act of 2018, bipartisan legislation that would strengthen accountability of senior executives at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA).

“The VA plays a crucial role in the lives of veterans who have sacrificed so much to protect our nation,” said Senator King. “Unfortunately, there have been several instances in recent years where VA executives have fallen short of their duties to the vets they were meant to serve. Senator Tillis and I hope this legislation will improve the VA’s transparency when moving senior executives – and by improving transparency, the VA can continue to help ensure our nation’s veterans receive the best possible care.”

 “Senior VA executives should not be using their positions for personal gain or reassigned to another position for improper reasons,” said Senator Tillis. “The VA Senior Executive Accountability Act will improve transparency within the VA but requiring the Secretary of the VA to approve all reassignments of senior executives in writing and to notify Congress of any moves and the associated cost.”

 The VA Senior Executive Accountability Act will improve transparency by requiring VA to inform Congress about where senior executives are being moved. Further, this legislation would require the secretary to personally approve of a reassignment of 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. 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, 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, VA has recently reinstated the AVO program. Companion legislation to the Senators’ bill, H.R. 2772, unanimously passed the House of Representatives on July 28, 2017.

Since arriving in Washington, Senator King has been a strong advocate for veterans issues, and recently highlighted the important place of veterans in Maine by devoting his November and December podcasts to the subject. In December, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it will fund three new positions in Maine to better serve justice-involved Maine veterans confronting homelessness, mental health or substance abuse issues – a move which comes after his February letter to the Department urging additional resources on the topic. In the Fiscal Year 2018 NDAA, Senator King again joined with Senator Tillis to support a bipartisan amendment that would encourage cooperation and integration between the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense with their electronic health care record systems to improve the transition from active duty to veteran status and ensure that veterans won’t have to wait to gain access to the health care services they have earned. Senator King was a cosponsor of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, which passed the Senate in June 2017 and has since been signed into law.

###