#Department of Veteran Affairs

[gwydionmisha]

They were planning to do a hiring freeze at the VA too as a step towards privatizing (aka dramatically enshitifying the VA as 47 thinks that soldiers and veterans are losers, a thing he likes to say often, so presumably UnitedHealthcare is the best they deserve in return for risking life and limb.), but the complaints were loud enough to change 47's mind.

Remember we need to stay noisy and not give up.

[autumngracy]

Man. Wait 'til all the folks in the armed forces who voted for Trump because he's a "patriot" and "pro-military" find out that he and his Attorney General pick want to abolish the VA

[victusinveritas]

This email apparently circulated around VA (Veterans Affairs) today.

BTW the "coded language" he's talking about is literally departments that have EEO statements.

It would be a shame if the email address DEIAtruth@omp.gov went viral and got very long and descriptive letters detailing all the DEIA contract changes that have occurred since 11/5/2024.

[heathengentleman]

MESSAGE FROM THE ACTING SECRETARY

We are taking steps to close all agency diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) offices and end all DEIA-related contracts in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders titled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions.

These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination.

We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language. If you are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024, to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies, please report all facts and circumstances to DEIAtruth@opm.gov within 10 days.

There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information. However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences.

In addition to the above, all personnel are directed to withdraw any final or pending documents, directives, orders, materials, and equity plans issued by the agency in response to now-repealed Executive Order 14035, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce (June 25, 2021). These actions must be taken immediately, but no later than January 31, 2025.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Todd B. Hunter

Acting Secretary      

PLEASE PRODUCE LOCALLY FOR ALL THOSE WHO DO NOT ROUTINELY ACCESS EMAIL DUE TO THEIR SPECIALTIES.

Sorry, not sorry.

[tomorrowusa]

Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson is now a House member. He takes reliably MAGA positions on issues before Congress. It looks like Jackson may have picked up an aversion to the truth from his former colleague George Santos.

On his congressional website, the Texas Republican describes himself as a “retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral with nearly three decades of military service.” But that leaves out one big omission—that Jackson was demoted from the senior naval flag rank to captain in July 2022. That move came after the Pentagon inspector general released a scathing report on Jackson’s behavior while serving in Donald Trump’s White House, including that the doctor—who had retired from the Navy in 2019—berated, drank with, and sexually harassed subordinates while serving as the director of the White House medical unit. Jackson was also accused of popping Ambien throughout the workday. Those revelations came with a $15,000 cut in annual pension payouts for a 24-year veteran like Jackson, as well as social stigma within the ranks. “The substantiated allegations in the [Department of Defense inspector general] investigation of Rear [Adm.] (lower half) Ronny Jackson are not in keeping with the standards the Navy requires of its leaders and, as such, the secretary of the Navy took administrative action in July 2022,” Lt. Cmdr. Joe Keiley, a Navy spokesman, told The Washington Post. Jackson casually dismissed the report in his July 2022 memoir, Holding the Line, conveniently skipping over the part where he was formally demoted.

In early 2018 Jackson's bizarrely bullish report about Trump's health made national news.

Dr. Ronny Jackson’s glowing bill of health for Trump

The press briefing he gave at the White House was widely mocked and inspired a sketch on Saturday Night Live.

Two months after that fabulist medical report, Trump tried to appoint Jackson as Secretary of Veterans Affairs to his revolving door cabinet. The move was widely viewed as a reward for services rendered. In April, Jackson was forced to withdraw from consideration. He was too corrupt even for a position in the Trump administration. 😱

Ronny Jackson withdraws as VA secretary nominee

The Jackson scandal is a reminder that we still lack direct credible information on Trump's physical or mental health. Considering that Trump apparently drinks 12 Diet Cokes® a day and is a notorious consumer of junk food, the true state of his health is probably far worse than what Dr. Jackson or Trump's self-reporting reveal.

[coochiequeens]

This Veterans Day don't let the media gloss over the women that served

By Lori Tobias | For The Oregonian/OregonLive

Ask most any of the 26,000 female Oregon military veterans about invisibility and not only will she know exactly what you are talking about, she’ll no doubt have a story or two of her own. That includes Dr. Nakeia Council Daniels, interim director of Oregon’s own Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Daniels said she didn’t even realize she was considered a veteran after servingin the U.S. Army from 1998 to 2003.

“I do not recall the word actually being used when I was processing out of the military,” Daniels said. “I remember the word civilian being used quite often in transition. There were no images of women. When I saw veterans, I saw older white men who had wartime paraphernalia on their headgear or on their clothing. Culturally, women have historically been disconnected. We don’t see ourselves as women veterans. I actually thought you had to be a certain age to be a veteran.”

Stories like Daniels are what inspired the “I Am Not Invisible” traveling photo exhibit created in 2017 by the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA) to “raise awareness and visibility of the women as veterans in Oregon.” This week, the exhibit is on display at Western Oregon University in Monmouth.

The idea for the exhibit grew out of a conversation with the Portland State University Veterans Resource Center, said Nicole Hoeft, ODVA Strategic Communications Division director. Oregon women veterans coordinator Elizabeth Estabrooks and PSU Veterans Resource Center director Felicia Singleton were in a meeting with women veterans discussing the veterans’ sense of feeling invisible. And from there, “I Am Not Invisible” was born.

“We wanted to make sure that we had a diverse group of women from all eras as well as positions and branches of service so that we could try to make sure that we had a photo or bio that would resonate with a majority of the other women that would be seeing this,” Hoeft said.

"Culturally, women have historically been disconnected. We don’t see ourselves as women veterans. I actually thought you had to be a certain age to be a veteran,” said Dr. Nakeia Council Daniels, interim director of Oregon’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs.Courtesy of Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs

“When we go through the gate at the Portland National Air Guard, they look at my husband and expect him to give his card and don’t expect me to. And I outrank him. It never occurs to them that I am the officer,” says Mary Mayer, who retired as a colonel after serving for more than 30 years in the U.S. Air Force.Courtesy of Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs

Liz Estabrooks, ODVA’s first women's veteran coordinator, and Sen. Jeff Merkley review the exhibit in Washington, D.C., in 2017.Courtesy of Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs

The women veterans it resonates with include ODVA advisory board member, Mary Mayer. Like Daniels, Mayer also knows what it’s like to feel invisible, though she notes, “invisible means different things to different people.” In her case, it often also meant disrespected.

In 1972, Mayer went to Lackland Air Force Base for officer training, “It was the first time I met our squadron and one guy comes up to me and he says, ‘What are you doing in my man’s Air Force?’” Another time, Mayer needed help learning to march, a skill necessary to be an officer, but the drill instructor refused her request, hoping Mayer would “wash out.” It’s not only the obvious insults, like the lower ranking officer who refused to salute a woman, but the day-to-day slights, even in full dress uniform.

“Initially, we had black coats and white coats, kind of like a tuxedo, and I don’t know how many times I would have the white coat on and they thought I was the waiter,” Mayer recalled. “Another person thought I was a bus driver.” Retired as a colonel after serving for more than 30 years in the U.S. Air Force, Mayer still feels the sting. “When we go through the gate at the Portland National Air Guard, they look at my husband and expect him to give his card and don’t expect me to. And I outrank him. It never occurs to them that I am the officer.”

The issue of visibility isn’t only a lack of recognition but of access to benefits and resources, Daniels said. “This campaign gets right to the heart of education, outreach and awareness, not just to women veterans, but to the next generation that follows and to those military connected families … a way to reach out and ensure that in Oregon, all veterans are accessing their benefits and resources.”

It’s been more than six years since the “I Am Not Invisible” exhibit launched at the Portland Art Museum in February 2017. Mayer, who served on the Advisory Committee to the ODVA, recalled the opening day.

“The room was packed,” Mayer said. “Everyone was very moved. I mean, even the men. It was amazing. We were being seen for the first time. We really mattered.”

Since then, the exhibit has been replicated by the VA’s Center for Women Veterans, as well as dozens of state veterans groups. It was also on display in Washington, D.C., in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building. It opened at the Western Oregon University in Monmouth on Monday and will be on campus through Nov. 11. It can also be seen at the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs website and in a video presentation at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center.

“We are extremely, extremely proud of the advocacy that this exhibit has been able to carry on not only for just the first few months, but for six years now,” Hoeft said. “To date, there have been thousands of people that have seen thousands of women veterans’ photos attached to the “I Am Not” Invisible campaign. … We are very, very proud of this whole engagement and our partnerships now with the federal VA and the other state VAs who are also replicating this exact campaign.”

— Lori Tobias, for The Oregonian/OregonLive

[billab9qu]

The department said it would rescind the payments, which were awarded improperly to more than 170 career senior executives.

[reading-writing-revolution]

More than 300,000 Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare jobs are exempt from a federal hiring freeze instituted Jan. 20 by President Donald Trump.

[gwydionmisha]

Once again, America lets down our veterans.

[whatstheusgovernmentdoing]

11/16/24 - White House

President Biden will be meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China today

Department of State: About $17M will support clean energy around the world - Brigadier General Abdul Salam Fajr Mahmoud of the Syrian Air Force has been designated as a human rights violator - The United States and Ukraine have partnered to bring new nuclear reactors to Ukraine

Department of Justice: QOL Medical LLC has agreed to pay $47M due to submitting false claims to federal health care programs - Key Fortune Inc. has settled over their charge of discriminating against a legal immigrant - Larry Dean Harmon has been sentenced to three years in prison for money laundering; must forfeit over $400M in assets - Muhammad Zafar has been sentenced to three years, five months in prison for a health care fraud conspiracy

Department of the Interior: 28,000 jobs have been created over the past three years thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Department of Agriculture: $5M in grants to Tribal students at land-grant colleges - D-SNAP program to bring relief to 22,858 households hurt by Tropical Storm Helene

Department of Labor: Frazer & Jones faces $1M in penalties for continuing to ignore OSHA citations - Liberty Hill Equity Partners LLC to pay $56K in back wages for not giving enough overtime to workers

Department of Housing and Urban Development: HUD has supported homeownership for over 790,000 Americans via the FHA - The Acting President of the Government National Mortgage Association has stepped down

Department of Transportation: $3.4B to upgrade railroads, roads, and ports to strengthen supply chains and lower costs

Department of Veterans Affairs: VA to improve access to their installations

Department of Homeland Security: DHS to issue 65,000 new visas in 2025

[harriswalz4usabybr]

Thursday, October 17, 2024 - Kamala Harris

Today the Vice President headed to two border cities, McAllen and Laredo, with two campaign surrogates—Beto O'Rourke and Stacey Plaskett—and the Senate Candidate for Texas, Colin Allred. The 'official' schedule is below.

McAllen, TX Event Location: McAllen Veteran Affairs Clinic Event Type: Facility Tour and Meet & Greet Event Time: 8:00 - 11:00 CT *The campaign took a facility tour of the VA Clinic in McAllen, TX, which has a high concentration of US Veterans. This is an important stop on the campaign trail because we want to hear directly from veterans that are experiencing subpar healthcare do to shortcomings of VA funding. The Harris-Walz administration is looking at ways to enhance the VA through additional funding, possibly coming from defenses spending.

Laredo, TX Event Location: Gateway to the Americas International Bridge and US Customs and Border Protection Facility Event Type: Facility Tour Event Time: 15:00 - 17:00 CT *The campaign took a facility tour of both the footbridge at the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge and the nearby US Customs and Border Protection building. Securing the border and reforming the immigration system are peak priorities for the Harris-Walz Campaign. We look forward to working with congress to find a solution to a problem that has been continued due to President Donald Trump axing a bipartisan bill.

Laredo, TX Event Location: Eastern Division Neighborhood Event Type: Door Knocking Event Time: 18:00 - 21:00 CT *The campaign spent the evening door knocking on homes throughout the Eastern Division of Laredo. This was critical for our campaign as well as Colin Allred's as we believe that the region can help drive Texas towards the blue column. Dinner was eaten at Tacos Kiss with some local volunteers.

~BR~

[heathengentleman]

'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.'

MESSAGE FROM THE VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

October 8, 2024

2024 Out and Equal LGBTQ+ Award Finalist

Colleagues,

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Michael Kauth, finalist for the Out and Equal Outie Award in the category of LGBTQ+ Corporate Advocate.

The Outie Awards honor, recognize, and celebrate individuals, organizational initiatives, and employee resource groups as role models for advancing equity and belonging for LGBTQ+ people in the workplace, and beyond.

Dr. Kauth, Executive Director of the LGBTQ+ Health Program for the Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA), is being recognized for: 

Co-creating VHA’s LGBTQ+ program which focuses on improving policy, education, and the health care environment for Veterans treated at the VHA.

Creating LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator positions at every VHA facility.

Establishing national policy that access to restrooms be based on gender identity

Leading the creation of sexual orientation, gender identity, and preferred name fields in VHA record systems to improve the patient experience and support staff in making tailored clinical decisions.

Developing a nationwide interdisciplinary consult program, supporting professionals seeking consultation on treatment planning for transgender and gender diverse

Contributing to a policy to support gender transitioning in the workplace, including guidance for federal identification cards, displaying chosen name and pronouns in electronic communications, and online meeting applications.

Congratulations to Dr. Kauth, whose efforts demonstrate VA’s commitment to providing high-quality, innovative, equity driven, world-class health care to Veterans.

[plethoraworldatlas]

During just three months in 2023, the Department of Defense provided treatment to service members over 50,000 times for traumatic brain injuries (TBI), many of which have resulted from blast overpressure.

The Pentagon has admitted that its safety standards regarding blast overpressure aren't based on scientific evidence. Soldiers who should be safe by these standards have suffered traumatic brain injuries that irrevocably altered their behavior, causing hallucinations, seizures, depression, and thoughts of suicide. Yet the Defense Department has done little to protect service members from lasting damage.

The Blast Overpressure Safety Act would take several steps to hold the Defense Department accountable for the health of our soldiers and veterans:

Requiring an outside audit by the Government Accountability Office to detail what the DoD is doing to address the risks of blast exposure;

Monitoring service members' brain health through regular neurocognitive assessments, as well as blast overpressure exposure and TBI logs; and

Enhance efforts to mitigate exposure when acquiring new weapons and help service members affected to blast exposure access care.

[theprophet359]

The new council and office were created in response to a presidential order to address racial disparities and support historically underserved minorities across the federal government.

[darkhorsevirtue]

VA Careers and Employment: Opportunities for Veterans and Their Families

VA Careers and Employment: Supporting Veterans and Their Families The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is committed to helping veterans and their families succeed in their professional lives by offering a range of career and employment opportunities. These resources and support services aim to empower veterans and their families as they transition to civilian careers or seek new job…