Holding the VA accountable is an exercise in futility, but U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman appears to have an endless supply of perseverance.
The latest scandal involves two top VA officials who forced workers to take job transfers in order to steal those jobs for themselves – and rack up nearly a half-million dollars in moving expenses for their efforts.
The VA’s acting inspector general said in a report this fall that (Diana) Rubens and (Kimberly) Graves forced lower-ranking regional managers to accept job transfers against their will. Rubens and Graves then stepped into the vacant positions themselves, keeping their pay while reducing their responsibilities.
After the employees were busted by the inspector general, the agency fired them. Haha! Just kidding, the two women were demoted from executive positions to career employees.
Because accountability.
Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman got it about right when he said, “Yet again, the VA has failed to hold corrupt executives accountable. … I call on Secretary [Robert] McDonald to explain why these officials received a minimal demotion and were not fired.”
We’re not going to hold our breath waiting for a response. The Obama administration has been woefully irresponsive to any oversight attempts by Congress, whether it’s cleaning up the VA, the IRS, EPA … our list goes on and on.
If this is transparency, we can’t wait to not see what a Hillary administration has in store for us.