The nominee to be the following No. 2 official on the Division of Veterans Affairs has been superior by a Senate panel, however may face a bumpy highway to remaining affirmation.
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Thursday voted 13-6 to advance Tanya Bradsher, who was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the following deputy VA secretary. If confirmed, Bradsher, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who presently serves as VA chief of workers, can be the primary lady to completely maintain the submit.
However Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has signaled he may throw up roadblocks that sluggish full Senate approval for Bradsher over issues that an IT system below her purview just isn’t correctly defending whistleblowers’ identities.
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“Sen. Grassley stays deeply involved that Tanya Bradsher’s mishandling of veterans’ non-public, delicate info — together with whistleblowers’ info — makes her ineligible for this position,” his workplace mentioned in an announcement to Navy.com. “Sen. Grassley plans to proceed working to make clear Ms. Bradsher’s shortcomings.”
Grassley’s workplace has not explicitly mentioned he plans to position what’s often known as a maintain on Bradsher, however he beforehand used the procedural tactic to stall the affirmation of the VA’s below secretary for advantages over issues about whistleblower protections.
A maintain doesn’t forestall a nominee from being confirmed, however means the affirmation may take significantly longer for the reason that Senate must make time for ground votes.
Bradsher is a Bronze Star recipient who served in Iraq from 2008 to 2009. Since retiring from the army in 2013, she has additionally constructed up a prolonged resume in authorities, together with stints on the Nationwide Safety Council; the workplace of Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va.; the Protection Well being Company; and White Home Workplace of Public Engagement.
In Might, she breezed by way of her affirmation listening to, the place she vowed to make outreach to feminine veterans a precedence.
“I’ve met so many ladies who do not acknowledge their very own service, who reduce their time,” she mentioned.
Veterans Affairs Committee members have heaped reward on her.
“Tanya Bradsher’s background in each army and civilian service demonstrates that she’s well-qualified to function VA’s second-in-command, and if confirmed I sit up for holding her accountable in delivering for our nation’s veterans and their households,” committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., mentioned in an announcement Thursday after the committee superior her.
Grassley’s opposition to her facilities on a difficulty that was not raised at her listening to: an inner messaging system on the VA often known as the Veterans Affairs Built-in Enterprise Workflow Resolution, or VIEWS. Final yr, a whistleblower alleged the VA was failing to guard private info, together with Social Safety numbers and medical information, of whistleblowers, veterans and staff as a result of the knowledge was out there to anybody with entry to VIEWS.
After the whistleblower criticism, a authorities watchdog directed the VA to conduct its personal investigation into the allegations, giving the division a 60-day deadline.
“Nonetheless, you ought to be conscious that these investigations often take longer, and businesses steadily request and obtain extensions of the due date,” the U.S. Workplace of Particular Counsel added in an August 2022 letter to the whistleblower obtained by Navy.com.
In a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough final month, Grassley complained the investigation was nonetheless incomplete.
“VA and Ms. Bradsher should instantly clarify their failure to guard this info for therefore lengthy, even after being notified of those potential violations of federal knowledge privateness legal guidelines,” he wrote. “VA should additionally clarify its delays in investigating the matter, whereas this delicate info apparently stays out there to those that shouldn’t have entry to it.”
In a letter responding to Grassley earlier this month, the VA mentioned it expects its Workplace of Info and Know-how to finish an investigation by Aug. 1 and mentioned that, since final yr’s whistleblower criticism, the division has “improved coaching and applied safety enhancements limiting entry to additional strengthen protections of delicate info in VIEWS.”
Bradsher additionally informed senators in written solutions that she takes “the privateness of the veterans, households, caregivers and survivors that we serve extraordinarily significantly and can proceed to do every thing in my energy to guard it.”
Grassley’s workplace, although, mentioned he discovered the responses “dissatisfactory.”
— Rebecca Kheel will be reached at rebecca.kheel@army.com. Observe her on Twitter @reporterkheel.
Associated: Bronze Star Recipient and VA Chief of Workers Nominated for No. 2 Job at VA
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