I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1658 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish in the Department 

of Veterans Affairs an Under Secretary for Management, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2023 

Mr. TAKANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish in the 

Department of Veterans Affairs an Under Secretary for 

Management, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Manage VA Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. UNDER SECRETARY OF MANAGEMENT OF DEPART6 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 3 of title 38, United 

8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 307 the 

9 following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 307A. Under Secretary for Management 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is in the Department an 

3 Under Secretary for Management, who is appointed by the 

4 President, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen5 ate. The Under Secretary for Management shall report di6 rectly to the Deputy Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Under Secretary for 

8 Management shall serve as the Chief Management Officer 

9 of the Department and principal advisor to the Secretary 

10 on matters related to the management of the Department, 

11 including management integration and transformation in 

12 support of Veterans Affairs operations and programs. The 

13 Secretary shall carry out the following responsibilities 

14 through the Under Secretary for Management: 

15 ‘‘(1) The budget, appropriations, expenditures 

16 of funds, accounting, and finance. 

17 ‘‘(2) Procurement, including infrastructure, 

18 property, equipment, and other material resources. 

19 ‘‘(3) Human resources and personnel. 

20 ‘‘(4) Information technology, including policies 

21 and directives to standardize information technology 

22 systems across the components of the Department. 

23 ‘‘(5) Strategic management planning and an24 nual performance planning and identification and 

25 tracking of performance measures relating to the re26 sponsibilities of the Department. 


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1 ‘‘(6) The management integration and trans2 formation within each functional management dis3 cipline of the Department, including information 

4 technology, financial management, acquisition man5 agement, and human capital management, to ensure 

6 an efficient and orderly consolidation of functions 

7 and personnel in the Department, including— 

8 ‘‘(A) the development of centralized data 

9 sources and connectivity of information sys10 tems, to the greatest extent practicable, to en11 hance program visibility, transparency, effec12 tiveness and coordination; 

13 ‘‘(B) the development of standardized and 

14 automated management information to manage 

15 and oversee programs and make informed deci16 sions to improve the efficiency of the Depart17 ment; 

18 ‘‘(C) the development of effective program 

19 management and regular oversight mechanisms, 

20 including clear roles and processes for program 

21 governance, sharing of best practices, and ac22 cess to timely, reliable, and evaluated data on 

23 all acquisitions and investments; and 

24 ‘‘(D) the overall supervision, including the 

25 conduct of internal audits and management 


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1 analyses, of the programs and activities of the 

2 Department, including establishment of over3 sight procedures to ensure a full and effective 

4 review of the efforts by components of the De5 partment to implement policies and procedures 

6 of the Department for management integration 

7 and transformation. 

8 ‘‘(7) The development of a transition and suc9 cession plan, before December 1 of each year in 

10 which a Presidential election is held, to guide the 

11 transition of Department functions to a new Presi12 dential administration, and making such plan avail13 able to the next Secretary and Under Secretary for 

14 Management and to the Committees on Veterans’ 

15 Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives. 

16 ‘‘(8) Reporting to the Government Account17 ability Office every six months to demonstrate meas18 urable, sustainable progress made in implementing 

19 the corrective action plans of the Department to ad20 dress the designation of acquisition management on 

21 the bi-annual high-risk list of the Government Ac22 countability Office, until the Comptroller General of 

23 the United States submits to the appropriate con24 gressional committees written notification of removal 

25 of the high-risk designation. 


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1 ‘‘(9) The management of the Office of Enter2 prise Integration. 

3 ‘‘(10) The supervision of the Director of Con4 struction and Facilities, who shall report directly to 

5 the Under Secretary for Management. 

6 ‘‘(11) Any other management duties that the 

7 Secretary may designate.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

9 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

10 after the item relating to section 307 the following new 

11 item: 

‘‘307A. Under Secretary for Management.’’. 

12 (c) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary 

13 of Veterans Affairs shall appoint an individual to serve 

14 as the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Manage15 ment by not later than one year after the date of the en16 actment of this Act. 

Æ 


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