WASHINGTON — Shining a light on waste, fraud and abuse can come with a very high cost.
Whistleblowers help protect the public interest by reporting allegations of wrongdoing, such as violations of law or gross mismanagement.
Yet, from fiscal years 2018 through 2022, 69% of cases involving Veterans Affairs Department employees included allegations of whistleblower retaliation, such as demotion, reassignment or termination, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
For the VA, which is one of the largest federal agencies employing around 400,000 people across hundreds of medical facilities, clinics, and benefits offices, there was some good news in the report.
The number of cases of workforce retaliation dropped, from 901 cases in 2018 to 515 cases in 2022.
Additionally, the cases with favorable actions for the employee increased, from 3% of cases in 2018, to 10% of cases in 2022.
Still, there is much room for improvement, says GAO Education, Workforce, and Income Security team Director Thomas Costa.
"Certainly, we want people to be able to come forward and point out when they see gross mismanagement, abuse and things like that and not be harmed when that happens," he said in an interview with 13News Now.
Costa continued: "It's critically important that our veterans and the folks that work in the VA hospitals feel like they can come forward and speak honestly about the problems they see. Things aren't going to get better if we sweep them under the rug."
Former President Donald Trump in 2017 signed an executive order establishing the VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection to improve the department's ability to hold employees accountable and enhance protections for whistleblowers.
Yet, allegations of a culture of intimidation, reprisal, and retaliation towards whistleblowers at the Department of Veterans Affairs persist.
The VA's Office of Inspector General in 2019 stated that the OAWP "acted in ways that were inconsistent with its statutory authority while it simultaneously floundered in its mission to protect whistleblowers."