{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=7d4eb244-79af-4275-9fd2-42c3a3e96524", "VA Secretary Poised to Have Full Authority to Fire or Demote VA Employees", "2014-11-10", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "KS", "Jerry Moran", "M000934", "www.moran.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 The U.S. Senate is poised to pass appropriations bills in the coming months, including the Fiscal Year 2015 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. The MilCon-VA appropriations bill includes an amendment offered by U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) \u2013 a member of both the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs (VA) Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee \u2013 that gives the VA Secretary complete authority to fire or demote VA Senior Executive Service (SES) or equivalent employees based on performance. In May, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously in favor of Sen. Moran\u2019s VA Management Accountability Act of 2014 amendment included in the FY2015 MilCon-VA appropriations bill.\r\n\r\nOn CNN\u2019s Wolf on Monday, VA Secretary Bob McDonald stated that he still does not have the authority to expedite the disciplining of VA employees suspected of wrongdoing. \u201cI am following the law,\u201d Sec. McDonald said. \u201cIf Congress wants me to follow a\u00a0different procedure, they have\u00a0to pass a new law.\u00a0The only thing the new law did\u00a0was take the appeal time and cut\u00a0it in half.\u201d\u00a0\r\n\r\n\u201cI want Sec. McDonald to know that the Senate Appropriations Committee has already voted unanimously to give the VA Secretary the flexibility he needs to make certain VA personnel are held accountable,\u201d Sen. Moran responded. \u201cVA personnel should be accountable for their actions; otherwise the current bureaucratic system of mediocrity and failure will remain. Unlike the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (VACAA) provisions regarding the removal of employees who are liable for misconduct, this amendment will help make certain those who violate VA policy and affect the quality of life for veterans are held responsible and can be removed from the VA system. I fully support empowering Sec. McDonald to remove employees who do not follow VA\u2019s values and expect that he will use this authority as he has unequivocally requested.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe VA Management Accountability Act of 2014, which Sen. Moran\u2019s amendment was based on, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in May by a vote of 390 to 33. The legislation was originally introduced in the House by the House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL) and in the Senate by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Sen. Moran is a cosponsor.\r\n\r\nSen. Moran has been a member of the House and Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committees for 18 years, chaired the Health Subcommittee in the House for two years, and has worked with nine VA Secretaries. He was the first U.S. Senator to call for Secretary Shinseki to resign amidst ongoing systemic dysfunction within the VA system.\u00a0\r\n\r\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=7d4eb244-79af-4275-9fd2-42c3a3e96524"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8389879949390888, "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"}