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(Sec. 3) This bill revises the authority of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to remove, demote by a reduction in grade and pay, or suspend a VA employee, including a member in a senior executive position, for reasons of performance or misconduct.
A demoted individual shall not be placed on administrative leave during the appeals period and may receive pay only if he or she reports for duty or is approved to use certain accrued unused leave.
An expedited appeals process is established for such VA decisions, including the right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
The VA may not remove, demote, or suspend an employee: (1) without the approval of the Special Counsel if the individual seeks corrective action from the Office of Special Counsel based on an alleged prohibited personnel practice, and (2) until a final decision in the case of a whistle-blower complaint.
Whistle-blower protections are revised, including to prohibit the VA from taking any such action against a person who has a pending whistle-blower complaint.
(Sec. 4) The VA shall reduce the federal annuity of an individual removed from the VA Senior Executive Service (SES) who is convicted of a felony that influenced his or her performance while employed in such position.
The VA may: (1) reduce the federal annuity of an individual who was convicted of such a felony and was subject to removal or transfer from the SES but who left the VA before final action was taken; and (2) recoup an award, a bonus, or relocation expenses paid to a VA employee under specified circumstances.
(Sec. 8) The VA may directly appoint qualifying individuals to the positions of Medical Center Director and Director of Veterans Integrated Service Network.
(Sec. 9) The bill revises time periods for adverse action reviews with respect to physicians, dentists, podiatrists, chiropractors, optometrists, registered nurses, physician assistants, and expanded-function dental auxiliaries.
(Sec. 10) The VA shall report to Congress annually on performance awards and bonuses awarded to certain high-level employees.
(Sec. 11) The VA shall: (1) ensure that supervisors are evaluated on actions taken to improve employee performance, and (2) provide supervisors with training on whistle-blower protections.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, describing H.R. 1259 as passed House amended on Mar 16, 2017. It is not the text of the measure; a later amendment may have changed what it does.
Mar 16, 2017Each bar: ✓ Yea from the bottom, ✕ Nay aboveMar 16, 2017
House Mar 16, 2017 · the primary vote
VA Accountability First Act
Passed
237 Yea 178 Nay 14 not voting
Party-line vote 13 of 415 voting members broke with their own party: 10 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
DemocratsRepublicansFilled: YeaRing: NayGrey: not voting or present
429 members on this roll call, from the official House record. Party majorities need at least five voting members, so an independent never counts as breaking with a party.
Signing on is not a vote: a member can cosponsor H.R. 1259 and vote against it. 10 signed when it was filed.
Organizations that named H.R. 1259 in a lobbying disclosure. Only those that cited the bill by number appear, so this is a floor, not a full list.
54 disclosures name this measure. Retrieved from LDA.gov on 2026-10-05. Senate Office of Public Records cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from LDA.gov.