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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, during a joint hearing, the members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs heard testimony from The American Legion on its 2013 legislative priorities.
Adding to the growing list of taxpayer-funded boondoggles, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is under heavy congressional scrutiny after wastefully spending more than $700,000 on two employee conferences last year. A 150-page report issued by the VA Office of Inspector General (IG) affirmed that the lavish events, which took place in Orlando, Florida, were poorly planned by the agency’s senior leadership.
Following a new inspector general’s audit of two conferences held in 2011, the Veterans Affairs Department has enacted numerous tactics to check spending, root out misconduct by employees and keep senior officials involved in conference planning.
The Department of Veterans Affairs wasted at least $762,000 in taxpayer money for two lavish conferences in Florida and a top department official has resigned in the wake of the disclosure, the VA inspector general reported Monday.
Federal investigators estimated Monday that the Department of Veterans Affairs wastefully spent about $762,000 at two employee conferences last year in Orlando, Fla., and that senior leadership failed to provide proper oversight in planning and executing the events.
An Obama administration appointee has resigned in connection with another bombshell report detailing the waste of taxpayer money at feel-good conferences -- this time, at a pair of Veterans Affairs summits in Orlando that cost more than $6 million.
The Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledged "serious lapses in oversight" on Monday and a senior official resigned as an investigation detailed funds wasted on elaborate conferences and said employees got gifts like massages and helicopter rides.
Two multimillion-dollar conferences for Veterans Affairs Department human resources officials have resulted in the resignation of the agency’s top personnel official, as an internal investigation found excessive spending and evidence that some of those planning the events had improperly accepted gifts from potential vendors.
Perhaps the $50,000 taxpayer-funded motivational video featuring a Gen. George S. Patton look-alike, played at the Veterans Affairs conferences, should have included a lecture on fiscal discipline.