{"id":40634,"date":"2019-10-30T13:52:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T13:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/30\/lawmakers-have-no-confidence-in-vas-whistleblower-protection-office\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:16:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:16:43","slug":"lawmakers-have-no-confidence-in-vas-whistleblower-protection-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2019\/10\/30\/lawmakers-have-no-confidence-in-vas-whistleblower-protection-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers have \u2018no confidence\u2019 in VA\u2019s whistleblower protection office"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers say they have lost confidence in the Veterans Affairs office founded to investigate whistleblower complaints and aren\u2019t inclined to send cases there following a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/24\/va-office-charged-with-whistleblower-protection-hurts-them-instead-investigators-say\/\" target=_blank>damning report about its operations<\/a> by the department\u2019s inspector general last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Members of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/29\/veterans-legislation-dispute-prompts-republican-walk-out-on-capitol-hill\/\" target=_blank>House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee<\/a> criticized the leader of the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection during a Tuesday afternoon hearing, citing multiple failures with the agency\u2019s investigations and limited results from the office\u2019s work over the last two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf I\u2019m approached by a whistleblower from my district, I cannot in good conscience direct them to work with your office,\u201d said committee chairman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/07\/25\/va-secretary-house-democrats-spar-on-twitter-over-wait-times-for-veterans-health-care\/\" target=_blank>Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif. <\/a>\u201cAnd that\u2019s not going to change until I see some real progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/24\/va-office-charged-with-whistleblower-protection-hurts-them-instead-investigators-say\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/VA.jpg_37e9e2.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA office charged with protecting whistleblowers hurts them instead, investigators say<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The VA inspector general found widespread concerns with the two-year-old office, and multiple practices that would discourage employees from reporting wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Separately, six Democrats from the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee sent a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie lamenting \u201csignificant deficiencies\u201d in the department\u2019s whistleblower protection policies and demanding reforms in the accountability office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is all the more surprising given the high level of publicity the administration has focused on (whistleblower protection) law and your stated commitment to protecting whistleblowers and ensuring accountability,\u201d the note stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, the VA inspector general offered a scathing assessment of the OAWP\u2019s work thus far, accusing leadership of creating \u201can office culture that was sometimes alienating to those it was meant to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the most problematic findings were a lack of sufficient training for staff, an inconsistent approach to the office\u2019s mission and responsibilities, and a refusal to investigate cases where whistleblowers wanted to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Tuesday\u2019s hearing, Tamara Bonzanto, Assistant Secretary for Accountability and Whistleblower Protection at VA, said she has been working since her appointment six months ago to correct the office\u2019s mistakes of the past. She said new training and oversight policies will be in place by the end of the year, and said a reorganization of the office should provide better results in months to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also pushed back on Takano\u2019s assessment that the office cannot be trusted to care for employees who want to report wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf whistleblowers have a complaint, they should come to our office,\u201d she told Military Times. \u201cWe\u2019ve taken on a lot of major changes in the last few months. They should be confident coming to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Accountability within VA\u2019s employee ranks was a major talking point in President Donald Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign. Under new firing authorities signed into law by Trump in early 2017, VA has dismissed more than 8,600 employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/29\/veterans-legislation-dispute-prompts-republican-walk-out-on-capitol-hill\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19119808905535.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Veterans legislation dispute prompts Republican walk-out on Capitol Hill<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The fight over veterans policy bills is linked to the House&#039;s ongoing impeachment investigation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But union officials and other outside advocates have complained that many of those firings are low-level employees, not senior managers more directly responsible for cultural problems within VA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In June, the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee hosted another hearing on whistleblower problems within VA where several current employees complained they still face retaliation and unclear legal protections when they report problems with supervisors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During Tuesday\u2019s hearing, Republicans on the House committee were less critical than Takano but also expressed serious concerns that the office isn\u2019t moving quickly enough to respond to lingering problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When pressed by those lawmakers if the OAWP has the \u201cculture of accountability\u201d needed to improve its operations, Bonzanto said she is confident it does. VA Inspector General Mike Missal testified that he isn\u2019t as sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe did not find that as we conducted our investigation,\u201d he told lawmakers. \u201cWe\u2019re going to take another look as we assess our implementation of our recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The criticism comes after a report last week describing the office as unfocused and potentially harmful for employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":59175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,25,67,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3226],"class_list":["post-40634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"M75RMQSWUFBFVNYAR5YO5TOAJY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/30\/lawmakers-have-no-confidence-in-vas-whistleblower-protection-office\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - 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