Moulton, Schrader Introduce Bill to Prohibit Hiring Freeze at the VA

As a nurse at the VA I applaud this move. The single biggest delay in care throughout the VA is due to lack of personnel to make these appointments with. If you can't replace those that leave in a timely manner this problem only gets bigger. Within the VA, from the time a person applies until the time they start the job is usually several months. People who apply in many cases cannot afford to wait that long so they take a different job, this slows down the process of filling positions. Once someone is selected to fill the position, they have to fill out and wait for the results of a federal background investigation (even if they already have a Secret Clearance) which I did have when I was hired and still have. The Federal Background investigation will take at least a month and could take 2-3 months. Only after this process can someone start the job. Even when someone has filed for retirement the position cannot be listed until they are effectively retired, so what this means is that when someone leaves working at the VA, they won't be replaced for at least 3 months, in some cases 6 months or more. If this process cannot even begin until a hiring freeze is lifted, fewer appointments will be available as there will be fewer people to schedule the appointments and to schedule them with.

This is a temporary freeze at the VA, these 2,000 openings need to be reviered as well as those in place. Pouring money and people into a dark hole isn't the answer as evidenced by the past three or four decades. Hiring freezes and budget cuts in the private industry are frequently used to eliminate dead wood and align priorities.

The Board of Veteran Appeals had announced late last year they planned to hire 250 new attorneys to help clear the backlog of veterans in the Appeals process. By placing a freeze on federal hiring, these vacancies are terminated.