President Trump Signs Rep. Taylor's VA SEA Act Into Law

Statement

Last night, the White House announced that President Donald Trump signed Congressman Scott Taylor's bill, H.R. 2772, the VA Senior Executive Accountability (SEA) Act, into law. To date, of the 11,158 bills introduced by the 115th Congress, only 186, or 2 percent, have been signed into law by President Trump.

This important legislation requires the VA Secretary to furnish semiannual reports on the reassignment of senior executive employees at the VA, including the reason for their reassignment and the associated costs. It also requires the VA Secretary to personally sign off on all senior executive transfers, ensuring further accountability for VA leadership.

"The American people and veterans, through their representatives in Congress, need to have a clear picture of what is going on behind the scenes at the VA. Sending a bad executive to a different VA facility transfers old problems to new veterans, and does nothing to improve quality or access to VA care. Rather than protecting subpar executives, we need to refocus our efforts on retaining the best employees, leaders, and providers across the VA, with the proper oversight. This type of accountability has been sorely absent from the VA for years, and I am grateful for the help and support of President Trump, Senator Tillis, and my colleagues in Congress for helping to get this bill passed into law," said Congressman Scott Taylor.

Background: The VA SEA Act was introduced in June of 2017, after concerns arose about poor management at the Hampton VA Medical Center. Medical centers receive star ratings that reflect quality of care, management, and response times - among other factors. It was recently learned last year that the Hampton VA Medical Center was performing at a one-star level out of five. To remedy the situation, VA leadership made the decision to transfer the executive to another facility, thereby transferring one center's problem to another.

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