Reintroduced Bill Aims to Strengthen Accountability at VA

WASHINGTON — Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Fla., on Tuesday reintroduced a bill aimed at closing a long-standing loophole that allows Department of Veterans Affairs employees under investigation to resign or retire without any permanent record of misconduct.

“Veterans deserve a VA that holds employees under investigation accountable,” the congressman said in a written statement. 

“Too often, employees under investigation quietly resign or transfer to another agency with no record of misconduct,” Franklin continued. “Allowing misconduct to go unrecorded undermines the integrity of the entire system.”

“The Personnel Integrity in Veterans Affairs Act ensures investigations are completed and findings are preserved so due process and accountability are secured,” he said.

First introduced in March 2024, the measure directs the VA secretary to ensure findings from any misconduct investigation are permanently recorded in an employee’s personnel file, even if the employee separates from the agency during an ongoing investigation. 

Franklin said the need for reform has ample precedent. 

In 2016, he said, the House Veterans Affairs Committee found 96% of reviewed VA settlements omitted proposed disciplinary actions from permanent records. 

Of more than 200 cases reviewed that year, 72% involved financial payouts totaling over $5 million.

In 2023, new allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct surfaced through credible whistleblowers who lacked confidence in the VA’s internal process. 

Although HVAC formally requested information from VA leadership in late September, meaningful action was delayed for more than a month. 

In the interim, several employees implicated in those incidents either resigned or were reassigned without clear documentation of investigative outcomes, illustrating the very gap this bill seeks to close, Franklin said.

The congressman himself testified before the HVAC in March 2024 shortly after he introduced the Personnel Integrity in Veterans Affairs Act for the first time.

During that testimony, Franklin stressed his belief that current department practices erode trust and fail the veterans the agency is meant to serve when misconduct is quietly and routinely buried.