President Trump signed a law Friday that makes it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire employees for wrongdoing and adds protections for whistleblowers in the VA.
Responding to an Obama-era scandal in which veterans died waiting for doctor’s appointments, Mr. Trump said the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 will “make sure that the scandal we suffered so recently never, ever happens again.”
“What happened was a national disgrace, and yet some of the employees involved remained on the payrolls,” Mr. Trump said. “Our veterans have fulfilled their duty to this nation, and now we must fulfill our duty to them.”
The president signed the bill into law in the East Room, at a White House ceremony attended by dozens of veterans, family members and lawmakers. Among them was retired Army Sgt. Michael Verardo of North Carolina, who lost two limbs in 2010 when he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.
Mr. Verardo said he was prepared when he enlisted for injury or death. But when he returned home, he had to wait 57 days for the VA to fix his prosthetic leg, and more than three years for the agency to modify his home so he could safely live there.
“What I was not prepared for was coming home to a broken VA system,” Mr. Verardo told the audience. “Today is a new day. This administration has fulfilled its promise that the veteran is empowered and the veteran is in charge of his or her own care.”
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