WASHINGTON — Congress has approved long-sought legislation to make firing employees easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs, part of an effort urged by President Donald Trump to fix a struggling agency serving millions of veterans.
The House cleared the bill, 368-55, on June 13, replacing an earlier version that Democrats had criticized as overly unfair to workers. The Senate passed the bipartisan legislation by voice vote last week. It will go to Trump later this week for his signature.
The measure comes after a 2014 scandal at the Phoenix VA medical center, where some veterans died while waiting months for appointments. During the presidential campaign, Trump promised to fire VA employees “who let our veterans down,” describing the government’s second-largest agency and its more than 350,000 employees as “the most corrupt” and “incompetent.”
The bill’s passage “is GREAT news for veterans!” Trump tweeted Tuesday night. “I look forward to signing it!”
Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, described the legislation as a necessary first step in overhauling the VA. Congress will soon take up legislation to give veterans expanded access to doctors outside the VA.
“For far too long, the failures of the bad actors have tarnished the good name of all VA employees,” Roe said. “No effort toward real, wholesale reform at the department will ever be successful absent a strong culture of accountability first.”
The House vote came as investigations into possible collaboration between the Trump campaign and Russia continued to hang over much of Washington, largely stalling the administration’s biggest legislative initiatives. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified Tuesday before a Senate panel on Russia contacts as House members took up the VA bill.
