The Biden-Harris administration considers losing your job for mistreating veterans a major recommendation, based on revelations from the America First Policy Institute (AFPI).
AFPI investigated the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) reinstatement of former employees who the Trump administration had fired “for mistreating American veterans.” Thousands of VA employees lost their jobs over the mistreatment, but AFPI says that the Biden-Harris administration offered to reinstate and give $134 million in taxpayer-provided back pay to over 1,700 of them. This is the same administration that forced out thousands of military members for refusing the harmful COVID-19 vaccines.
AFPI published the new exposé on Oct. 22, highlighting how the VA offered employees that the Trump administration fired backpay and a chance to return:
AFPI has learned through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests that the Biden-Harris Administration has reinstated over 100 terminated employees to date. If all 4,000 fired employees receive back pay and reinstatement, taxpayers’ bill for the full settlements could exceed $300 million…
Of the 106 employees who have accepted VA’s reinstatement offers and are currently working at VA once more, they were originally removed for reasons that include poor performance, sleeping on duty, unauthorized access to an employee’s medical records, failure to follow procedures, and failure to maintain a regular work schedule.
The administration could ultimately make the offer of reinstatement and backpay to 4,000+ former VA employees.
As a military brat myself, I know numerous people who have had truly awful experiences with the VA over the years. The Trump administration was trying to address the scandal; the Biden-Harris administration wants to perpetuate it.
For Our VIPs: Democrats Despise Both Their Opponents AND Supporters
Robert Wilkie, former secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs and distinguished fellow of AFPI’s Center for American Security, slammed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s DOD/VA.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has let down American veterans and taxpayers. Those fired for mistreating American veterans should not even be allowed near the VA, much less reinstated,” he said.
Wilkie added, “Instead of litigating these baseless grievances or working with Congress to strengthen the Accountability Act, the Biden-Harris Administration surrendered to the government employee union. Taxpayers and veterans who receive care from poor performers will pay the price.”
Trump and Wilkie had reformed and instituted accountability policies for the VA, AFPI explained. The VA fired some 9,000 staff for “long records of negligence” resulting in “improper treatment and harm to veterans.” AFPI further clarified:
President Donald J. Trump signed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 after a series of scandals during the Obama Administration. The law gave the VA new authority to dismiss employees for poor performance or misconduct quickly. The principal federal union representing VA employees filed multiple grievances over the VA’s use of the new accountability procedures. Instead of defending the use of this authority, the Biden-Harris Administration settled those grievances with the American Federation of Government Employees and announced it would stop using the Trump-era Accountability Act procedures.
The idea under Trump was to put veterans first, and it was working, with approval ratings for the VA going up to 90% under Trump, AFPI added. Not anymore under Biden and Harris, who seem to hate the military (for instance, see the catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal).
The Biden-Harris administration always lavishes our taxpayer dollars on criminals, foreigners, terrorists, or ne’er-do-wells. When does the administration apologize to the military members it drove out for refusing the COVID vaccine? What about the victims of the recent hurricanes, who can’t get sufficient aid? Those who least deserve U.S. government aid are always the first to get handouts from Democrats.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member