In other news that the world is about to end, the U.S. House cast a UNANIMOUS vote last night to strip bonuses away from VA officials, especially those caught up in recent scandals involving the care of their charges.
Insult was literally added to injury last year when top officials in charge of the broken system at 38 hospitals were awarded nearly $400,000 in bonuses.
For a Congress that can’t even agree on whether it’s day or night, this vote sends a pretty strong bat signal to the VA to get its act together.
Yet The Blaze reports that the VA still doesn’t get the message:
However, it’s unclear whether the VA would use its new authority even if it became law. In January, Miller’s committee held a hearing in which two senior VA officials said the VA had no opinion on whether corrupt or negligent officials should be able to keep their ill-gotten bonuses.
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) was shocked at the VA’s lack of any position on the bill. “I think it’s just extraordinary, and what it says to me, and what it says to the veterans of this country, is nothing’s really changed,” he said.
There are only so many passes a cabinet secretary will get from Congress before politicians start pounding their fists on desks and demand that a presidential appointee resign.
Yet the strikes against VA Secretary Robert McDonald just keep coming. Congress gave McDonald a pass for his unprofessional behavior against Coffman in committee and they looked the other way when McDonald told a whooper of a lie about how many officials have been fired because of the scandals. Congress also forgave McDonald for “misstating” his military service.
Even if the Senate passes the House bill, it’s unlikely President Obama would sign it into law. Still, it will be interesting to see how Congress reacts when McDonald continues to ignore their wishes to withdraw bonuses and fire VA officials for the harm done to our nation’s veterans.