{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-introduces-bill-to-hold-va-accountable-for-financial-shortfall", "Sullivan Introduces Bill to Hold VA Accountable for Financial Shortfall", "2024-09-18", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AK", "Dan Sullivan", "S001198", "www.sullivan.senate.gov", "sullivan", "https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases?PageNum_rs=10", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs, introduced the Protecting Regular Order (PRO) for Veterans Act to hold the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) accountable for a Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) budget shortfall of $3 billion. This bill institutes a three-year requirement for the VA to submit quarterly in-person budget reports to Congress to encourage greater oversight and financial accountability. Additional financial shortfalls would result in the withholding of bonuses for senior VA and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) personnel.\n\n\u201cTelling Congress we have to provide $3 billion to the VA in a matter of days or our constituents won't get their benefits\u2014without any accountability or reforms\u2014is a shocking failure in leadership and management,\u201d Sen. Sullivan said. \u201cIt is incumbent upon the Secretary to appear before the committee and answer questions, but remarkably, he declined to do so. This is not a great victory as some are spinning it. The VA has a duty to provide congressional oversight committees with high-quality, in-person briefings explaining these shortfalls in the future\u2014earlier than just a month in advance. In light of this budgetary fiasco and the millions of dollars\u2019 worth of bonuses improperly distributed to VA executives, I\u2019ve put forward commonsense legislation to require the VA to abide by a basic level of accountability and oversight.\n\n\u201cLet me be clear: We will fund this shortfall. Our veterans deserve and rely upon their hard-earned benefits. But, going forward, our veterans also expect a much higher standard of accountability from VA leaders. I expect the Secretary and other VA leaders to come to the table with clear answers as to how these deficiencies keep happening and how they are going to prevent them in the future.\u201d\n\nSen. Sullivan\u2019s legislation is cosponsored by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)\n\nClick here for the full bill text.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:46:43Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-introduces-bill-to-hold-va-accountable-for-financial-shortfall"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.080437796190381, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}