IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1259 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MARCH 21, 2017 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
AN ACT 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the 
removal or demotion of employees of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs based on performance or misconduct, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘VA Accountability First Act of 2017’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. References to title 38, United States Code. 
Sec. 3. Removal, demotion, and suspension of employees based on performance 
or misconduct. 
Sec. 4. Reduction of benefits for Department of Veterans Affairs employees 
convicted of certain crimes. 
Sec. 5. Authority to recoup bonuses or awards paid to employees of Department 
of Veterans Affairs. 
Sec. 6. Authority to recoup relocation expenses paid to or on behalf of employ-
ees of Department of Veterans Affairs. 
Sec. 7. Time period for response to notice of adverse actions against super-
visory employees who commit prohibited personnel actions. 
Sec. 8. Direct hiring authority for medical center directors and VISN directors. 
Sec. 9. Time periods for review of adverse actions with respect to certain em-
ployees. 
Sec. 10. Annual report on performance awards and bonuses awarded to certain 
high-level employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
Sec. 11. Accountability of supervisors at Department of Veterans Affairs for 
addressing performance of employees. 
Sec. 12. Improvement of training for supervisors. 
SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 
section or other provision of title 38, United States Code. 
SEC. 3. REMOVAL, DEMOTION, AND SUSPENSION OF EM-
PLOYEES BASED ON PERFORMANCE OR MIS-
CONDUCT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 7 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section: 
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‘‘§ 719. Employees: removal, demotion, or suspension 
based on performance or misconduct 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may remove, de-
mote, or suspend an individual who is an employee of the 
Department if the Secretary determines the performance 
or misconduct of the individual warrants such removal, de-
motion, or suspension. If the Secretary so removes, de-
motes, or suspends such an individual, the Secretary 
may— 
‘‘(1) remove the individual from the civil service 
(as defined in section 2101 of title 5); 
‘‘(2) demote the individual by means of a reduc-
tion in grade for which the individual is qualified, 
that the Secretary determines is appropriate, and 
that reduces the annual rate of pay of the individual; 
or 
‘‘(3) suspend the individual. 
‘‘(b) PAY OF CERTAIN DEMOTED INDIVIDUALS.—(1) 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any individual 
subject to a demotion under subsection (a)(2) shall, begin-
ning on the date of such demotion, receive the annual rate 
of pay applicable to such grade. 
‘‘(2) An individual so demoted may not be placed on 
administrative leave during the period during which an ap-
peal (if any) under this section is ongoing, and may only 
receive pay if the individual reports for duty or is approved 
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to use accrued unused annual, sick, family medical, mili-
tary, or court leave. If an individual so demoted does not 
report for duty or receive approval to use accrued unused 
leave, such individual shall not receive pay or other bene-
fits pursuant to subsection (e)(5). 
‘‘(c) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—(1) Not later than 30 
days after removing, demoting, or suspending an indi-
vidual employed in a senior executive position under sub-
section (a) or after removing, demoting, or suspending an 
individual under chapter 74 of this title, the Secretary 
shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 
the Senate and House of Representatives and to each 
Member of Congress representing a district in the State 
or territory where the facility where the individual was em-
ployed immediately before being removed, demoted, or sus-
pended is located notice in writing of such removal, demo-
tion, or suspension. Such notice shall include the job title 
of the individual, the location where the individual was em-
ployed immediately before being removed, demoted, or sus-
pended, the proposed action, and the reason for such re-
moval, demotion, or suspension. 
‘‘(2) Not later than 30 days after the last day of a 
fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees 
on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives a report listing all removals, demotions, and 
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suspensions under this section or under chapter 74 of this 
title during such fiscal year. Each such report shall in-
clude the job title of each individual removed, demoted, 
or suspended, the location where the individual was em-
ployed immediately before being so removed, demoted or 
suspended, the proposed action, and the reason for such 
removal, demotion, or suspension. 
‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘senior executive po-
sition’ means, with respect to a career appointee (as that 
term is defined in section 3132(a)(4) of title 5), a Senior 
Executive Service position (as such term is defined in sec-
tion 3132(a)(2) of title 5). 
‘‘(d) PROCEDURE.—(1) Subsection (b) of section 
7513 of title 5 shall apply with respect to a removal, demo-
tion, or suspension under this section, except that the pe-
riod for notice and response, which includes the advance 
notice period required by paragraph (1) of such subsection 
and the response period required by paragraph (2) of such 
subsection, shall not exceed a total of 10 business days. 
Subsection (c) of such section and section 7121 of such 
title shall not apply with respect to such a removal, demo-
tion, or suspension. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall issue a final decision with 
respect to a removal, demotion, or suspension under this 
section— 
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‘‘(A) in the case of a proposed removal, demo-
tion, or suspension to which an individual responds 
under paragraph (1), not later than five business 
days after receiving the response of the individual; 
or 
‘‘(B) in the case of a proposed removal, demo-
tion, or suspension to which an individual does not 
respond, not later than 15 business days after the 
Secretary provides notice to the individual under 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) The procedures under chapter 43 of title 5 shall 
not apply to a removal, demotion, or suspension under this 
section. 
‘‘(4)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B) and subsection 
(e), any removal, demotion, or suspension under sub-
section (a) may be appealed to the Merit Systems Protec-
tion Board, which shall refer such appeal to an adminis-
trative judge pursuant to section 7701(b)(1) of title 5. 
‘‘(B) An appeal under subparagraph (A) of a re-
moval, demotion, or suspension may only be made if such 
appeal is made not later than 7 days after the date of 
such removal, demotion, or suspension. 
‘‘(e) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—(1) Upon receipt of an 
appeal under subsection (d)(4)(A), the administrative 
judge shall expedite any such appeal under such section 
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and, in any such case, shall issue a final and complete 
decision not later than 45 business days after the date 
of the appeal. 
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 7701(c)(1)(B) of title 
5, the administrative judge shall uphold the decision of 
the Secretary to remove, demote, or suspend an employee 
under subsection (a) if the decision is supported by sub-
stantial evidence. If the decision of the Secretary is sup-
ported by substantial evidence, the administrative judge 
shall not mitigate the penalty prescribed by the Secretary. 
‘‘(3)(A) The decision of the administrative judge 
under paragraph (1) may be appealed to the Merit Sys-
tems Protection Board. 
‘‘(B) An appeal under subparagraph (A) of a decision 
of an administrative judge may only be made if such ap-
peal is made not later than 7 business days after the date 
of the decision of the administrative judge. 
‘‘(4) In any case in which the administrative judge 
cannot issue a decision in accordance with the 45-day re-
quirement under paragraph (1), the Merit Systems Pro-
tection Board shall, not later than 14 business days after 
the expiration of the 45-day period, submit to the Commit-
tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives a report that explains the reasons why a deci-
sion was not issued in accordance with such requirement. 
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essary to ensure an appeal under this subsection is expe-
dited. 
‘‘(9) If an employee prevails on appeal under this sec-
tion, the employee shall be entitled to backpay (as pro-
vided in section 5596 of title 5). 
‘‘(10) This subsection shall supercede any collective 
bargaining agreement to the extent that such an agree-
ment conflicts with this subsection. 
‘‘(f) WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION.—(1) In the 
case of an individual seeking corrective action (or on be-
half of whom corrective action is sought) from the Office 
of Special Counsel based on an alleged prohibited per-
sonnel practice described in section 2302(b) of title 5 or 
section 733(c) of this title, the Secretary may not remove, 
demote, or suspend such individual under subsection (a) 
without the approval of the Special Counsel under section 
1214(f) of title 5. 
‘‘(2) In the case of an individual who has filed a whis-
tleblower complaint, as such term is defined in section 731 
of this title, the Secretary may not remove, demote, or 
suspend such individual under subsection (a) until a final 
decision with respect to the whistleblower complaint has 
been made. 
‘‘(g) TERMINATION OF INVESTIGATIONS BY OFFICE 
OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
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