Tag Archives: Veterans Administration

The Washington Post reports: For decades, the mission statement of Veterans Affairs came from a line from President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address on March 4, 1865 — “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” — a phrase adopted by the department in 1959. On Thursday, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis …

The Military Times reports: Same-sex spouses who were in long-term relationships with a veteran but were not legally able to marry before 2015 may now qualify for survivor benefits under a policy change announced by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The change applies to survivors who — because of bans before a Supreme Court ruling that year making gay marriage …

CNBC reports: House Democrats on Monday accused three Donald Trump associates — including billionaire Marvel Entertainment Chairman Ike Perlmutter — of breaking the law as they used their connection to the former president’s private golf club to shape veterans’ policies for their own benefit. Perlmutter, attorney Marc Sherman and doctor Bruce Moskowitz — known as the “Mar-a-Lago Trio” — refused …

The New York Times reports: The Department of Veterans Affairs will require 115,000 of its frontline health care workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus in the next two months, making it the first federal agency to mandate that employees be inoculated, government officials said on Monday. The move comes as concern is growing that the substantial portion of the …

The Associated Press reports: The Senate’s top Democrat on Sunday called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to explain why it allowed the use of an unproven drug on veterans for the coronavirus, saying patients may have been put at unnecessary risk. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said the VA needs to provide Congress more information about a recent …

The Associated Press reports: A malaria drug widely touted by President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus showed no benefit in a large analysis of its use in U.S. veterans hospitals. There were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, researchers reported. The nationwide study was not a rigorous experiment. But with 368 patients, it’s the largest …

The Guardian reports: Personal interest from Donald Trump appears to have put a controversial antidepressant on a fast track at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that shoved aside usual protocols, even though experts inside and outside the government have serious concerns the drug is effective and say it may be dangerous. Sources inside the Department of Veterans Affairs say …

Politico reports: House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.) today opened an investigation into the outsize role of three members of President Donald Trump’s Florida country club in a digital health record contract and other VA business. In a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, Takano requested extensive documents including all records of communication between the Mar-a-Lago members and …

ProPublica reports: Newly released emails about the three Trump associates who secretly steered the Department of Veterans Affairs show how deeply the trio was involved in some of the agency’s most consequential matters, most notably a multibillion-dollar effort to overhaul electronic health records for millions of veterans. Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, West Palm Beach physician Bruce Moskowitz and lawyer …

ProPublica reports: Last February, shortly after Peter O’Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative for the VA. “Received,” O’Rourke replied. “I will begin a project plan and develop a timeline for action.” O’Rourke treated the email as an order, but …

Politico reports: White House physician Ronny Jackson will not return to his role as the president’s personal physician, according to two senior administration officials, after a string of allegations caused the Navy rear admiral to withdraw his nomination last week to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sean Conley, a Navy officer who took over Jackson’s role as the president’s …

The Hill reports: President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs has withdrawn his nomination amid allegations of workplace misconduct and prescription mispractice. The withdrawal of Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson followed a decision by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to indefinitely postpone his confirmation hearing. Staffers on the committee were looking into charges against Jackson of creating a …

The Washington Post reports: White House physician Ronny L. Jackson has grown frustrated with the nomination process to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs and has told colleagues he may remove his name from consideration, according to two White House officials with knowledge of his deliberations. Jackson’s indecision was brewing even before Capitol Hill Democrats on Wednesday released new allegations …

The Washington Examiner reports: The White House will submit a request to the Senate this week to swiftly reschedule a confirmation hearing for Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, President Trump’s embattled pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. “We’ll be making a request to [Senate Veterans Affairs Committee] Chairman Isakson,” legislative affairs director Marc Short told reporters Wednesday. “We think …

The Hill reports: President Trump today repeatedly said the choice to withdraw was Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson’s, but he also questioned why he would want to go forward and take the “abuse” from politicians. “It’s totally his decision, he’ll be making a decision,” Trump said when asked about the nomination of Jackson, who is the White House physician to …

Politico reports: Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson’s nomination to be Veterans Affairs secretary may be in trouble, according to senators and aides in both parties. Republicans are considering postponing his confirmation hearing this week as senators pore over potentially new negative information that committee members have received, according to GOP sources familiar with the matter. And Senate Democrats are digging into …

Politico reports: Former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin on Sunday denied he resigned his position. In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the ousted VA chief again argued he was undermined by elements of the Trump administration seeking to privatize services for veterans and said his potential successor, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, would need “a good team around him” …

From David Shulkin’s op-ed in the New York Times: I believe differences in philosophy deserve robust debate, and solutions should be determined based on the merits of the arguments. The advocates within the administration for privatizing V.A. health services, however, reject this approach. They saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed. That is because I …

The Washington Post reports: Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin’s chief of staff doctored an email and made false statements to create a pretext for taxpayers to cover expenses for the secretary’s wife on a 10-day trip to Europe last summer, the agency’s inspector general has found. Vivieca Wright Simpson, VA’s third-most senior official, altered language in an email from …

Surely there’s a billionaire healthcare mogul involved. The Hill reports: President-elect Donald Trump is considering a “public-private option” for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a transition team official said Wednesday. “We think we have to have kind of a … public-private option because some vets love the VA … some vets want to go to the VA,” a senior …