Tester Leads Efforts to Strengthen Accountability and Oversight at the VA

Senator Jon Tester introduced VA Inspector General nominee Michael J. Missal this morning during a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee hearing.  Following Tester’s introduction, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee confirmed Missal’s nomination where it will now go to the Senate floor for a final vote.

The VA has been without a permanent Inspector General for over two years.

“It is clear that the VA needs to operate in a more transparent manner and folks need to be held accountable when they do not do right by veterans,” Tester said during the hearing.  “We can’t afford to allow systemic failures to continue – failures that deny or delay care for veterans or compromise their well-being.  We need increased accountability and we need it now.”

Missal’s confirmation comes one day after MTN news reported that in 2010 the VA lost documents containing the private information of 171 veterans, including 44 Montana veterans.

The VA Inspector General is tasked with providing independent oversight at the VA through audits and recommendations to improve transparency and ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely.