Posted on 07/22/2017 8:23:58 AM PDT by Oatka
President Trump is keeping his promise regarding one of the most bureaucratic agencies in the federal government.
Background:
The Veterans Affairs has long faced criticism regarding his care and service toward veterans. In the aftermath of the 2014 scandal in which veterans waited extremely long times in order to receive proper care, lawmakers in Washington D.C. have demanded that the agency accelerate firings.
Leaders within the Department of Veterans Affairs conquered with the horrific call to dump veterans off the waitlist for care, sending them off to death. Many veterans, as a result, have died waiting for care from the VA. Since 2014, it has been difficult to fix the way in which the system works due to the political motives that the union representing VA employees have in supporting the Democratic Party and prioritizing VA employees over veterans in desperate need of care.
President Trump partly ran on the VA scandal from 2014 in exposing the ineptitude of our federal government in providing the most basic care to those brave men and women who sacrificed and fought for our country to secure our basic rights and freedoms as Americans.
Trump remarked that “Some of the employees involved in these [wait list] scandals remained on the payrolls. Outdated laws kept the government from holding those who failed our veterans accountable.”
During the fiscal year period from 2000-2014, approximately 77,000 federal employees were fired in the government for performance or conduct issues, according to the Merit Systems Protection Board, an average of more than 5,000 a year. Out of a current workforce of about 2 million, that’s not much, but it’s not supposed to be. Plus, 5,000 is not nothing.
Trump’s VA Secretary David Shulkin was initially appointed by former President Obama as the VA undersecretary in 2015, who became increasingly frustrated at the direction that Obama’s VA was heading in. He was annoyed by the bureaucracy and slow moving staff that he was dealt with under the Obama administration, who told Shukin that it would take ten months to organize a summit on combat veteran suicides.
Shulkin told his staff that during that ten month period, 6,000 veterans will lose their lives. Because of Shulkin’s dedication and effort in the face of the Obama administration’s adversity, Shulkin was able to organize a summit in combatting against veteran suicide in just one month.
What’s Happening Now:
Since President Trump’s swearing-in in January, his administration has fired 548 employees of the the Department of Veterans Affairs, keeping his promise during the 2016 campaign to reform the VA taking out incompetent government employees that waste taxpayer dollars. Approximately 200 other VA employees were suspended and 33 were demoted, which included nurses, physicians, and police officers.
From the Daily Caller:
“Shulkin asked for new legislation that reduces the role of MSPB, especially when firing senior leaders. Congress passed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act in answer, and Trump signed the bill in June.”
Additionally, President Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr. tweeted Sunday in support of Secretary Shulkin and President Trump’s mass overhaul of the VA.
It seems the ONLY places we hear of President Trump’s accomplishments is One America News and Free Republic....
Couldn’t find what President Trump did other than fire a few and demote others.....am I missing something here?
Obama ran on “fixing” the VA and did nothing......in fact, the situation became worse.
Trump in 6 months has done more than Obama in 8 years.
HOORAY David Shulkin. HOORAY President Donald J. Trump. Thank you, sirs.
THANK YOU veterans.
Some good news for team Trump!
doorways are too narrow and the exam rooms are too small...
Good move, Mr. President!!!
Hannity covers many of them on FOX.
And why has dental care been specifically excluded from the choice program?
You're missing that the Other Guy did absolutely nothing. At least President Trump's administration, against all odds, is beginning to chip away at the problem. Confucius say "Longest journey begins with the first step."
AMEN!
Well, that’s true...also Conservative Treehouse....
Why not let he veterans go to any hospital they want?
doorways are too narrow....Report them to JCAH, local/state fire officials and politicans in your area.
Definitely a good start!
Regarding Agent Orange—if any of you have served in Vietnam or otherwise been exposed to Agent Orange make sure your VA provider knows this and that it is clearly documented in your record. The different VA facilities handle the Agent Orange matter very differently—some much better than others. I work VA contracts for research, and we were actually told NOT to annotate in the patient demographics if a vet or physician reported Agent Orange exposure, if it had not already been annotated. Not sure of the reason. Suspect the worst.
Read that he wants to suspend the Union and make it easier up and down the line to get rid of the bad ones. Do you have any idea of what sort of pressure he had to exert to fire as many as he has? It took me 14 months and 9 months respectively to fire the two I got rid of when I was a DoD Civilian..
Thank you
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