In the News

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman’s bill aimed at speeding construction and reining in costs at three major Veterans Affairs hospital construction projects — including one in won unanimous approval Wednesday from the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. A spokesman says a vote by the full House is likely next week. The bill, introduced by Coffman in February, is the culmination of efforts by Coffman and others to scrutinize massive cost overruns averaging $300 million on the Aurora hospital project and seve... Read more

Stop-gap solutions, continuing resolutions and government shutdowns are too quickly becoming a habit in Washington as lawmakers face fiscal crises and increasingly tight budgets. As Congress heads back to work this week, they are faced with a stack of appropriations bills to deal with before the end of the session. As Congress looks for ways to move (and pay for) these bills, it is critical that lawmakers start by acting upon countless federal budget savings opportunities sitting on the table. ... Read more

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Congress is taking action on the costly, delayed construction on the VA Medical Center on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora thanks to a Colorado representative. The VA Medical Center is one of three projects nationwide that is over budget and plagued with delays. The facility isn’t even close to being completed. It could be as much as three years behind schedule. The House Committee on Veterans Affairs passed legislation that would speed up the construction. Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican ... Read more

Declarations by the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general that delays in healthcare at the agency’s Phoenix hospital did not “conclusively” cause patient deaths is an unrealistic standard that is virtually impossible to meet, according to medical experts. “Delay of care may not have been the proximate cause of death," Dr. Gregory Schmunk, past head of the National Association of Medical Examiners, told the Arizona Republic in a story published Wednesday. "But the real question is: Di... Read more

President Barack Obama is preparing to expand the U.S. offensive against Islamic State extremists, including targeting the group’s havens inside Syria. The administration is considering steps including moves to block foreign fighters from entering Syria and Iraq, delivering more aid to moderate factions among Syrian rebels and expanding air strikes to Islamic State targets in Syria. The U.S. already has stepped up aerial surveillance in Syria, which would be needed to provide the real-time inte... Read more

A senior attorney at the Board of Veterans Appeals told lawmakers Wednesday that managers at the agency covered up delays in appeals processing and doctored records to protect their performance bonuses. Lawmakers said they were dismayed not just at the allegations but how closely they echo earlier VA scandals of case manipulation and whistleblower retaliation that have been the source of months of oversight and criticism. In testimony before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Kelli Kordich,... Read more

A Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general's report on delayed health care at the Phoenix VA medical center used a standard to evaluate patient deaths that would be virtually impossible to meet, according to medical experts. Inspector General Richard Griffin, who oversees the VA's internal watchdog agency, stressed in his Aug. 26 report that investigators were "unable to conclusively assert that the absence of timely quality care caused the deaths" of Arizona veterans who died while on ... Read more

Crucial language that the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general could not “conclusively” prove that delays in care caused patient deaths at a Phoenix hospital was added to its final report after a draft version was sent to agency administrators for comment, the Washington Examiner has learned. The single most compelling sentence in the inspector general’s 143-page final report on fraudulent scheduling practices at the Phoenix veterans’ hospital did not appear in the draft version, ac... Read more

Scott Davis testified before Congress on July 8. Since then he felt intimidation at work, but said this week he has felt threatened. Scott Davis told the House Veterans' Committee at a hearing on whistle blowers that the problems he has seen have hurt hundreds of thousands veterans. Davis is a program specialist at the Veterans Affairs National Health Eligibility Center. Davis reported on a litany of issues at the center that he said including "the possible purging and deletion of over 10,000 v... Read more