Department leaders are critical to implementation of what Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee leaders called “the most comprehensive toxic exposure package the Senate has ever delivered to veterans in this country’s history,” and to developing a different way to modernize the department’s infrastructure.
But the Senate has yet to confirm President Biden’s nominees for two crucial but long vacant positions — undersecretary for health and undersecretary for benefits — that are essential to guiding the department as it navigates these new developments. The benefits vacancy now seems hopeless, without Senate support for its well-qualified nominee, Ray Jefferson, who fought the ghost of refuted allegations.
Filling both positions is “extremely important,” said Ralph Bozella, chairman of the American Legion’s Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Commission.
“There’s a lot out there that needs attention,” Bozella said after listing a variety of issues confronting veterans. “And without undersecretaries to really shepherd these processes and be the person who’s held responsible under the secretary, this work is not being done in a timely fashion.”
The health slot has not had a confirmed undersecretary for more than five years. After the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs unanimously advanced Shereef Elnahal to head the Veterans Health Administration two months ago, chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) pushed for expedited full Senate approval. That was stopped by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), but Elnahal’s nomination probably will be voted on later.
“I sure hope he gets done quick, fast, and in a hurry,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said at a news conference. “Because we need him badly.”
Meanwhile, the undersecretary for benefits position, already empty for 18 months, could remain so for a long time despite the nomination of a highly praised, disabled veteran who is eager to serve his country again.
Jefferson’s nomination to lead the Veterans Benefits Administration has been unfairly doomed, by old, procurement-related allegations that repeatedly were found to be “unsubstantiated.”
Jefferson, a U.S. Military Academy graduate, was the Labor Department’s assistant secretary for the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) when he was forced to resign in 2011 over charges that he steered federal contracts to associates.
After eight depressing, devastating years, and exhausting his life savings on legal fees and a lawsuit against the government, Jefferson finally cleared his name in 2019 when Labor’s Office of Inspector General essentially said “oops” and reversed its earlier findings against him. In a letter to Jefferson, the office listed the four charges against him and said “this allegation is not substantiated” to each.
At the same time, a Labor Department letter to Jefferson said agency officials relied on the earlier, now-debunked inspector general report when they pushed him out of office. When the inspector general overturned its position, department officials declared “none of the allegations against you were substantiated.” Furthermore, the letter said if department officials had more complete information in 2011, “DOL would not have made its … request for your resignation.”
It is extremely rare for an inspector general to reverse a finding.
“The way we were able to do it is by proving innocence,” said Peter C. Choharis, Jefferson’s lawyer, in a phone interview….
Read More: Top VA posts need filling as nominee fights refuted allegations
