A Department of Veterans Affairs office that investigates whistleblower retaliation cases says VA leadership is acting on more of its recommendations for disciplinary action.
Members of the House VA Committee, however, are concerned VA’s Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP) doesn’t have independence from the rest of the department to carry out its work, and that whistleblowers don’t trust the office to handle their retaliation claims…
Tristan Leavitt, a former member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, now president of the nonprofit Empower Oversight, suggested that OAWP and OSC can serve complementary roles to protect whistleblowers.
“In my opinion, OAWP would likely be best situated to contributing to such a culture if investigating whistleblower retaliation was left to the experienced Office of Special Counsel and OAWP focused on the big picture of addressing trends at the VA,” Leavitt said.