Tag: Department of Veterans Affairs

VA Greets Veterans with Good News This Memorial Day: 10 New Medical Facilities

Just the News
Military therapy

Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins, highlighted for Memorial Day what he called progress that the Trump administration was making at the agency, including the opening of 10 new medical facilities. Collins made the announcement on social media earlier this month.

“We’re continuing the work that has been done over the last few years,” Collins said on the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show. “Some of this even goes back to the first Trump administration–making sure these facilities are getting open, [including] newer facilities.

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Vet Says Veterans Affairs Hospital in Texas Ignored Complaint over Alleged Sex at Facility Despite Video Evidence

Tom Pappert
Donny Belzer video

The Tennessee Star on Friday obtained a video a veteran says shows two staff members at the Amarillo Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System engaged in a sexual activity inside a clean supplies closet, just feet away where he was being treated for a hand injury.

According to data retrieved from the video, it was recorded on August 17, 2022, when the veteran told The Star he was at the Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center to seek treatment for an injury he sustained while working on a dirt bike.

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Michigan Republicans Sue Whitmer and Benson over Voter Registration Agencies

The Center Square
Jocelyn Benson and Gretchen Whitmer

Michigan’s governor, secretary of state and three other officials are facing a lawsuitfiled by the Trump campaign this week over granting some government offices the power to conduct voter registration. 

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order in December meant to designate certain state offices, including the Small Business Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs, to act as voter registration agencies.

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Feds Have Showered Washington State with Tax Dollars to Fix Homelessness, but It Keeps Getting Worse

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Homeless Person

A plethora of federal agencies have spent well over $200 million attempting to alleviate homelessness in Washington state over the past 17 years, only for the number of people living on the streets to keep rising.

Federal agencies like the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS), among others, have spent hundreds of millions of dollars since 2007 on grants to third parties intended to mitigate homelessness in Washington, federal spending data shows. Despite the nine-figure sum of taxpayer dollars spent, the number of homeless people in Washington grew by about 20% between 2007 and 2023, according to a report produced by HUD.

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States File Brief in Lawsuit to Force VA to Cover Gender Affirming Surgery

The Center Square
Doctors performing surgery

A group of states filed a friend of the court brief supporting a transgender veterans group that filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeking gender-confirmation surgery for 163,000 transgender veterans.

The Transgender American Veterans Association lawsuit, filed last month, seeks an order that the Department of Veterans Affairs act on the group’s 2016 rule-making petition for gender-confirmation surgery.

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Despite Backlog of Veterans’ Claims, VA Using Resources to Help Illegal Immigrants

Just the News

With hundreds of thousands of veterans’ healthcare claims on backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), top Republicans in the House and Senate are hoping to prevent VA resources from being used to process claims for medical care of illegal immigrants.

According to a July report from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency contracts with the VA to process medical claims reimbursements involving illegal immigrants even though they did not serve in the U.S. military. Medical professionals treat illegal immigrants detained by ICE on site, but when specialized or emergency care is required, they are transported to private providers, according to Fox News. The arrangement between ICE and the VA was outlined in a 2020 memo during the Trump administration, Fox News reported.

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Despite Backlog of Claims, Department of Veterans Affairs Using Resources to Help Illegal Immigrants

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At a press conference on immigration reform earlier this month, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., criticized President Biden for putting the needs of illegal immigrants over those of America’s veterans. “Veterans have a hard enough time getting the care that they need and now they have to compete with illegal immigrants? This will not fix the border crisis. Biden’s border crisis puts illegal immigrants first, it puts our veterans last,” Daines said.

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The Biden Administration’s Record of Caring for Veterans Raises Alarm

Just the News

Early in the debt ceiling crisis, the Biden administration tried to scare veterans into believing Republicans might cut their benefits, which did not happen. But the administration’s own treatment of the nation’s warriors suffers from glaring failures ranging from lax security to benefits delayed by unwarranted tests.

The failures were laid bare in a series of reports and memos made public by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ internal watchdog, the Office of Inspector General, shortly before Memorial Day and reviewed by Just the News.

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VA Error Leaves Potentially Thousands of Student Veterans Without Rent Payments

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Thousands of student veterans will have their housing stipends delayed past April 1 after an error in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) processing system for GI Bill benefits blocked payments, Military Times reported.

Millions of dollars in housing stipends for U.S. military veterans and their dependents expected to receive Friday will instead take several days to transmit and may not arrive until April 3, VA officials said late Thursday, according to Military Times. Officials did not explain what caused the error, which could cause financial problems for individuals dependent on VA compensation to make rent payments that are typically due on the first of the month.

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Senator Ron Johnson Calls for Improved Care of Veterans from the Department of Veterans Affairs

Cooper Moran

Senator Ron Johnson and other colleagues issued a letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis R. McDonough over concerns about access to health care for veterans across the country.

According to the letter from the group, the federal agency has subjected veterans to long waiting periods and is not following guidance from federal statute.

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Veterans Affairs Department Botches Drug Return Program, Resulting in $14.6 Million in Losses

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This week’s Golden Horseshoe is awarded to the Department of Veterans Affairs for its botched oversight of a drug-return program that has resulted in $14.6 million in taxpayer losses, according to the agency watchdog.

A recently released audit by the VA’s Office of Inspector General found the agency mismanaged the program and did not communicate with medical facility pharmacy chiefs to ensure the program’s protocols were followed.

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Sens. Blackburn, Tester Work to Keep VA on Target in $16B Electronic Health Record Modernization

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Jon Tester (D-MT) are fighting to keep the VA on target and transparent on its roll-out of the new $16 billion commercial electronic health record system for 9 million veterans. Blackburn and Tester introduced the VA Electronic Health Record Advisory Committee Act to establish a third-party oversight committee to monitor the implementation of the record system, Blackburn said in a press release Tuesday. The VA is undertaking a decade-long transition to bring veterans’ health records into the 21st century by ensuring that they can have access to a seamless electronic health record across the VA and Department of Defense health systems. https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/EHR-ACT.pdf “A crucial part of giving our veterans better care is improving the way DOD and the VA organize their health records,” Blackburn said. “The EHR Advisory Committee will be entirely devoted to ensuring the implementation and transition is done as smoothly as possible. Comprised of professionals who have experience in the health care field, as well as veterans currently receiving care at the VA, this committee will have the knowledge and expertise to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the VA’s services.” Tester said, “The new electronic health record system is too…

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Democrats See Another Opportunity for Outrage with VA Chief Nomination

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Robert Wilke

by Printus LeBlanc   Every week the progressives and their media propaganda distributors gin up another fabricated scandal. This week it is the children on the southern border to distract from the DOJ IG report. It looks like the next attack will come aimed at President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the often-troubled Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Make no mistake about it, Robert Wilkie is eminently qualified to be the next head of the VA, and any obstacle is nothing more than obstruction of President Trump and the protection of government union dues. Robert Wilkie has been the acting VA Secretary for the last eight weeks. He has done such a good job the President decided to nominate Wilkie to permanently fill the seat on May 18. The next hurdle to clear will be the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs vote followed by the full Senate vote. Once the hearings start, it is expected the typical obstruction will take place. The left will call Mr. Wilkie every name in the book with no proof to back anything up, and the mainstream media will carry the water for the progressives because that is what they do. However, they don’t know Robert…

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Federal Civil Service Abuses Bigger Than Just the Department of Veterans Affairs

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By Natalia Castro   When news broke of employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) putting the lives of veterans at risk with waiting lists to die, the country was outraged. When it became clear that these employees were not being terminated for their failures and mismanagement, Florida Senator Marco Rubio led bipartisan legislation that protected whistleblowers and provided management the authority to remove bad employees. Unfortunately, the VA is not the only department allowing bad employees to stay on the job despite grotesque violations of employee guidelines and even the law. Here we highlight some of the worst stories of civil service abuse in recent years and how they have been allowed to occur. Department of Veterans Affairs Some stories of abuse are obvious, like the Washington Times of April 2016 which reported on two senior VA officials who were responsible for the death of nearly 300 veterans on waiting lists, yet took over two years to even be proposed to be terminated. But as Senator Rubio argued in a May 2017 press release, this large-scale abuse flourished because of a culture of mismanagement. Rubio explained, “To list just a few examples, one VA employee was arrested and spent time in jail…

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Trump to Nominate Wilkie to Head Department of Veterans Affairs

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Robert Wilke

Reuters   President Donald Trump said on Friday he will nominate Robert Wilkie to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, replacing David Shulkin, who was pushed out amid alleged ethics problems. Wilkie, 55, has been acting secretary of the department since Trump fired Shulkin in March over concerns about unauthorized travel expenses. The Republican president’s first choice to replace Shulkin, Trump’s physician Ronny Jackson, withdrew from consideration last month after allegations that he had been lax with prescription drugs and drank alcohol on the job. Jackson denied the allegations but faced questions in the Senate confirmation process over whether he had enough experience for the job. Wilkie successfully went through the Senate confirmation process last year after Trump nominated him to be undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The veterans agency has long been criticized for the quality of care it provides and the red tape that veterans encounter.               VOA News

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VA Chief Says Senate Must Act So He Can Fire ‘Terrible Managers’

Tennessee Star Staff

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said Wednesday the civil service appeals process prevents the agency from firing “terrible managers,” and that the Senate must act to reduce the impact of the Merit Systems Protection Board and excessive government employee union-backed due process requirements. “Just last week we were forced to take back an employee…

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Trump Fired a Corrupt VA Official. Then the VA Stepped in and Said Not So Fast.

Tennessee Star Staff

A notoriously corrupt Department of Veterans Affairs manager fired the first day of President Donald Trump’s presidency—to rousing acclaim from veterans who heralded it as a sign of lasting reform—has been returned to work by VA officials after he filed a civil-service protections appeal. The return of the Puerto Rico hospital director is the latest example…

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Department of Veterans Affairs Asks For Meeting With Whistleblowers To Find Out How They Face Retaliation

Tennessee Star Staff

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is reaching out to whistleblowers for a meeting on the challenges they’ve faced when exposing wrongdoing at their facilities, following the establishment of an office to protect whistleblowers. Whistleblowers Kuauhtemoc Rodriguez from the Phoenix VA and Sean Higgins from the Memphis VA have been contacted by the Central Whistleblower Office…

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