Veterans Affairs News 
Top News
- Senators push Tangherlini for assurances GSA is improving
- As VA works to eliminate one backlog, one more might emerge
- Senator: IRS to pay $70M in employee bonuses
- Furlough song: Laugh or you'll cry
- Navy strikes enterprise licensing deal with Oracle
- Contractors with security clearances lack path to report problems
- NSA leak case gives vendors reason to reevaluate personnel
- Does security clearance process need a makeover?
- 8 contract executives guilty of 8(a) contracting fraud
- Whistleblower suit leads to $12M false claims settlement by SAIC
- NASA engineer, 29, recognized for improving aeronautical testing
- USPS reaches energy reduction goal ahead of schedule
- NOAA meteorologist helps save lives one storm at a time
- NASA picks 8 new astronauts, 4 of them women
- House passes sweeping $638 billion defense bill
- NIH tops list of best companies for baby boomers
- Latest postal reform proposal OKs 5-day delivery
- Wednesday federal headlines - June 19, 2013
Almost half of new vets seek disability
A staggering 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for injuries they say are service-related.
DoD, VA building on early success of joint e-health record
Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary Eric Shinseki announce an expansion in 2014 of initial capability of the joint electronic health record to two more sites.
Michelle Obama honors military mothers, wives
First lady Michelle Obama is honoring military mothers and wives for being "outstanding role models" for their children, communities and country.
Agencies may cut $4.6 billion to spare veterans
The White House has declared the Department of Veterans Affairs off-limits to "sequestration" budget cuts, and that means other nondefense agencies may have to bear an additional $4.6 billion in reductions next year.
VA boosts staff, online services as mental health needs grow
VA said last month it is hiring nearly 2,000 mental health professionals and support staff. The agency will also continually assess staffing levels.
Federal Drive interviews - May 8, 2012
Dr. Sonja Batten, deputy chief for specialty mental health, Veterans Affairs Department, discusses the VA's plans to hire 2,000 mental health professionals and support staff. Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) talks about two bills aimed at reducing the number of duplicative government programs.
VA tests meditation as PTSD treatment
The Department of Veterans Affairs is testing the effects of transcendental meditation on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Agencies getting tools to 'innovate with less'
The Shared Services Strategy is the latest way agencies can reduce spending on infrastructure technology and spend more on mission-critical IT. Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel said PortfolioStat is the lynchpin to the entire process for agencies. He held the first meeting with agencies leaders to discuss expectations.
Health IT: A Policy Change Agent
As we near critical health policy deadlines, it is essential for the federal sector to understand how secure, interoperable health data exchange can improve the quality, cost-effectiveness, access, and safety of care. Laws, such as the Affordable Care Act, are influencing how IT must be harnessed by providers and payers in the public & private sectors.
AFGE Celebrates National Nurses Week - May 4th, 2012 and May 11th, 2012
This week on AFGE's "Inside Government" National Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox, 8th District National Vice President Jane Nygaard and Legislative Representative Marilyn Park preview National Nurses Week May 6 - 12. The trio discusses challenges federal nurses face at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Bureau of Prisons and Department of Defense and highlights the union's Nurses Steering Committee.
Q& A with Bill Gormley
Coalition for Government Procurement chairman Bill Gormley joins host Roger Waldron to talk about the coalition's recently completed spring conference.
May 1, 2012
VA, National Archives team up to help dig out of claims backlog
The Veterans Affairs department has signed a deal with the National Archives and Records Administration to start digitizing billions of pages of paper documents dealing with Veterans' benefit claims.
Ex-VA hospital official faults mental health care
Veterans are waiting too long for mental health care and are unaware that hospitals sometimes manipulate records in an attempt to make it appear that standards are being met, a former Veterans Affairs hospital official told senators Wednesday.
OMB says VA should be exempt from sequestration cuts
The Veterans Affairs Department should be exempt from the automatic across-the-board cuts — or sequestration — laid out in last summer's Budget Control Act, according to an April 23 letter from the Office of Management and Budget.
Report: VA failing to provide timely mental care
Federal investigators reported Monday that nearly half of the veterans who seek mental health care for the first time waited about 50 days before receiving a full evaluation, a much longer lag-time than cited by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
VA to add about 1,900 to mental health staff
The Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday it was increasing its staff of mental health workers by roughly 1,900, part of an effort to address a shortage of specialists and to better prepare for the medical needs of veterans returning home from war.
Online tool lets VA employees conceive career paths
John Sepulveda, the Veterans Affairs Department assistant secretary for human resources and administration, said the portal lets employees assess their skill gaps and create a plan to move up the career ladder. HUD and DLA also have initiatives to create high performing employees and organizations.
OSC protection sought for VA whistleblower
The American Federation of Government Employees has asked the Office of Special Counsel to investigate the case of a VA doctor who believes she was unfairly targeted by superiors due to her critical Senate testimony.
Agencies see potential of putting HR systems in cloud
VA will award a contract for human resources services to a private sector cloud provider later this year. GSA still is in the planning stages, while the Coast Guard is refreshing its HR system that has been in a private cloud since 2003. OMB listed HR systems as a possible function to move to a shared service provider in 2012.
VA ending Microsoft licensing in 'ruthless reduction'
The Department of Veterans Affairs has reworked its relationship with Microsoft. CIO Roger Baker told In Depth that while daily operations won't change for VA employees, other vendors may be on the chopping block.
