The heads of 20 veterans organizations have asked President-elect Donald Trump to keep Bob McDonald as Department of Veterans Affairs’ secretary, Stars and Stripes reported Wednesday. Nikki Wentling writes the groups said in a Dec. 14 letter to Trump the veterans community “cannot afford to start over” on VA reform efforts such …
Read More »Republicans Pick Phil Roe to Chair House Veterans’ Affairs Committee
Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tennessee) has been selected to serve as chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee beginning next session, Military Times reported Friday. Leo Shane III writes Roe will succeed Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Florida), who has retired after leading the committee for the past six years. Roe has been …
Read More »Sens. Miller, Rubio Push for More Accountability in Future Veterans Affairs Legislation
Sens. Jeff Miller and Marco Rubio have called for language to cover accountability in any legislation that the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee might introduce in the future. The lawmakers said Thursday in a letter to Committee Chair Sen. Johnny Isakson that they are concerned over negotiations between the House and Senate VA Committees that centered around …
Read More »VA Officials Seek $2B Budget Reallocation for VHA to Avoid Shutdown
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs have expressed their concerns over a potential partial shutdown of the VA and urged Congress to reallocate $2.5 billion for the Veterans Health Administration, Federal News Radio reported Thursday. Jared Serbu writes that lawmakers would need to enact legislation within the week to fund the VA’s hospital …
Read More »House VA, Small Biz Committee Chairs Ask OFPP to Issue Reverse Auction Guidelines
The chairmen of the House Veterans Affairs and Small Business committees are calling on the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to issue guidance on the use of reverse auctions, Federal News Radio reported Wednesday. Jason Miller writes that Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) and Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) have asked OFPP Administrator Anne Rung to open a Federal …
Read More »VA Chief Eric Shinseki: Disability Claims Backlog Gone by 2015
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said the agency is making a commitment to clear the pending disability claims backlog by the end of 2015, according to an article by The Hill. Shinseki added that a “robust plan” has been made to clear the backlog which has been caused by transferring paperwork …
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