Press Releases

Following Friday’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has begun implementing Executive Order 13837 Ensuring Transparency, Accountability, and Efficiency in Taxpayer Funded Union Time Use, Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) released the following statement: “At a time when thousands of our nation’s veterans have waited months for care, some going from bad to worse, it is unconscionable to know that hundreds of VA employees spend 100 percent of their time on union activity and not the job they were hired to do, to care for our American heroes.   “I applaud the Trump administration for their action to rein in the time VA employees can spend on union matters in order to ensure better overall service and more accountability at the VA.  I encourage Congress to make this policy the law of the land by passing my legislation, the Veterans, Employees and Taxpayer (VET) Protection Act. The VET Protection Act will ensure the VA focuses on their mission - the well-being of our veterans above all else. “Holding the VA accountable for serving our veterans – not themselves – is not a Republican or Democrat ideal, it’s a basic expectation of every taxpaying American.” Earlier this month at a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, Arrington asked representatives from the VA if they thought it was reasonable, necessary, and in the best interest of the public for VA employees to spend 100 percent of their time working on union activities.