April 27, 2017 Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C.
President Donald J. Trump visited the Department of Veterans Affairs to thank Veterans for their service, and VA employees for their work helping Veterans.
WATCH President Trump signing executive order to create a new VA Accountability Office.
While at the VA, the President signed an Executive Order entitled, “Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection at the Department of Veterans Affairs,” and Secretary Shulkin made three new key announcements at the VA’s Central Office.
The Executive Order is focused on improving “accountability and whistleblower protection” at the VA by creating an office dedicated to that purpose and the position of Special Assistant to the Secretary who will report directly to the Secretary and serve as executive director of the office.
The new executive director “will report directly to me as Secretary so that we can identify barriers that are preventing us from removing employees and people that we have identified that should no longer be working at VA,” said Dr. David Shulkin, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “We want make sure that we have employees who work hard and are committed to the mission of serving our Veterans.”
The VA will establish the office and appoint the executive director within 45 days of the signing of the Executive Order.
The executive director will advise and assist the Secretary in using all available authorities to discipline or terminate any VA manager or employee who has violated the public’s trust and failed to carry out his or her duties on behalf of Veterans. The executive director will also assist the Secretary in recruiting, rewarding, and retaining high-performing employees.
At the signing ceremony for the Executive Order, Secretary Shulkin also announced three new key initiatives at the Department.
