The inspector general of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reinforced promises to provide objective and transparent oversight of the troubled department.
Michael Missal, who was confirmed as VA inspector general in April, promised to protect whistleblowers within the VA and restore trust in the department, according to his Federal News Radio interview Tuesday.(RELATED: Senate Confirms New VA Inspector General After Two-Year Vacancy)
Missal said the IG’s office has “essentially been given a fiduciary duty to look and do oversight of VA, and it’s the public’s right to know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”(RELATED: Senator Tells VA To Stop ‘Extravagant Spending’ On High-End Art)
Not everything can be completely transparent, but Missal says his office is “making sure that all the work that we do that can be disclosed publicly is.”
Like all investigative offices in federal agencies, the VA inspector general is supposed to operate independently from the rest of the department, which is one of three areas Missal wants to focus on.
“First, we have to make sure that we’re independent, and that we even have the appearance that we’re independent, and there’s nothing going to challenge that,” Missal said.
Missal also wants to ensure the inspector’s office is “as transparent as possible,” since the “public and the veterans are entitled to know all of the work of this office, and the reasons why we reach certain conclusions.”
Finally, Missal wants to ensure that every investigation is of high quality. “All of our work needs to meet at least five standards: needs to be accurate, needs to be timely, needs to be thorough, needs to be objective and it needs to be fair,” Missal said.
The VA will have a difficult time restoring trust after allegations earlier this year (before Missal was confirmed) that inspectors spied on whistleblowers.(RELATED: The Department Of Veterans Affairs Might Be Violating Policy By Spying On Whistleblowers)
“Whistleblowers are critical to our work,” Missal said Wednesday. “What we want to do is make sure that they recognize this is an agency where they can feel comfortable coming to us, that we’re going to look at things fairly and objectively and thoroughly, and if they want to be protected, their identity wants to be protected, they’re going to be protected.”
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