The Department of Veterans Affairs has reinstated more than 100 former employees it had fired under a widely contested law that once made it easier to fire staff accused of misconduct.

The department also paid about $134 million to 1,700 former VA employees who were laid off during the Trump administration under 2017 VA Whistleblower Accountability and Protection Act.

VA agreed to these actions as part aa an agreement reached with the American Federation of Government Employees in July 2023.

News outlets widely reported the general terms of the deal last year. But specific details of the deal were first reported earlier this month by Fox News and the America First Policy Instituteon the basis of documents obtained through requests from the Law on Freedom of Information.

A VA spokesman said in a statement that the department “made sure bad actors can’t go back to work and saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Department officials said only 3 percent of the 4,000 employees laid off under the 2017 VA Whistleblower Accountability and Protection Act — about 120 people — have returned to work at the VA and that no employees fired for serious misconduct have been rehired.

“VA continues to hold every employee accountable for providing the world-class care and benefits veterans deserve — and when they fail to do so, we take swift and decisive action,” a VA spokesman said.

VA officials said the department, under the Trump administration, failed to negotiate with AFGE on the implementation of the 2017 law, violating provisions of its contract with the union.

The department defended its position in court between 2017 and 2023, but federal courts and arbitrators have repeatedly ordered the VA to reinstate employees it fired under the 2017 law.

“The previous administration’s implementation of the 2017 law has been repeatedly struck down by the courts, putting the VA at risk of having to rehire individuals who have committed patient abuse, harassment and criminal activity. — and putting taxpayers on the hook for more than $1 billion,” a VA spokesman said.

Federal judges and the Merit Systems Protection Board it also blocked many of the provisions of the VA Whistleblower Protection and Accountability Act from covering most of the VA workforce.

VA leaders have decided that starting in April 2024, the department will no longer use the authority in the legislation to expedite the firing of employees accused of misconduct.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough he told reporters in March that the legislation has not helped the department fire poor performers and that the department has the tools it needs to hold employees accountable.

“To be honest … (it) didn’t necessarily help us manage our workforce as much as it put us in front of federal judges and in front of administrative bodies,” McDonough said. “So we just want to make sure that we exercise the authorities that we have.”

In a July 2023 settlement, AFGE and the VA agreed to let thousands of former employees, fired for minor offenses under the VA Whistleblower Protection and Accountability Act, choose between reinstatement or compensation.

As part of the settlement, AFGE and the VA agreed to support the firing of hundreds of other former VA employees who engaged in serious misconduct.

Robert Wilkie, a former VA secretary under the Trump administration who is now a distinguished fellow at AFPI’s Center for American Security, said the compensation and reinstatement of former VA employees has “let down American veterans and taxpayers.”

“Those fired for mistreating America’s veterans should not even be allowed near the VA, let alone reinstated,” Wilkie said in a statement.

VA leaders under the Biden administration say they have the tools to discipline and remove employees accused of misconduct.

However, members of the House and Senate VA committees have spearheaded bills during this session of Congress that would change how the department deals with underperforming employees.

A bipartisan group of senators introduced it last year Leadership, Engagement, Accountability and Development (LEAD) Act of 2023..

The bill would standardize how the VA builds a case against employees facing allegations of misconduct or poor performance and train the entire VA workforce on the ins and outs of the process.

VA Senate Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) introduced the legislation last year along with ranking member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Sen. Mike Rounds (RS.D.).

“While VA has the ability and authority to remove bad actors today, there may be delays and reductions in penalties, largely due to inconsistent processes and paperwork deficiencies,” the senators wrote in a invoice summary.

The LEAD Act also requires the VA to maintain its medical facilities staffed when employees under investigation are removed from their frontline medical positions.

VA’s Best HR Officials supported basics from the LEAD Law. But them the rejected efforts of the parliamentarians of the Chamber allow the department to expedite firing employees again, using a lower standard of proof to prove misconduct or poor performance.

department officials said reliable record scores from veterans they are a sign that the VA is holding employees accountable.

Meanwhile, the the VA announced provided more health care and benefits to more veterans than ever before, breaking previous records.

The department provided 127.5 million health care appointments to veterans in fiscal year 2024 — a 6 percent increase over the previous year.

The VA also provided $187 billion in benefits to 6.7 million veterans and survivors in fiscal year 2024. It processed more than 2.5 million disability claims — a 27 percent increase from the record of last year.

McDonough said in a speech Tuesday that, “by almost every measure, VA is beating the records we set last year.”

“It’s not just more care. It’s better world-class care and better health outcomes for veterans than in the private sector. It’s not just about more benefits, it’s about faster, more affordable benefits that we provide by meeting vets where they are, rather than waiting for them to come to us,” McDonough said at the National Press Club.

The VA will see this record workload under the PACT Act. Act of 2022 expands health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances during military service.

More than 796,000 veterans have enrolled in VA health care since the PACT Act was signed into law. That’s an increase of nearly 37 percent compared to the roughly two-year period before the PACT Act was signed into law.

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