立法者指责退伍军人事务部部长无视性骚扰指控-陌自动

　　周三，众议院共和党人指责退伍军人事务部部长丹尼斯·麦克多诺无视该部门多元化办公室性骚扰和员工恐吓的指控，他们认为这些失误损害了公众和员工对该部门的信心。

　　麦克多诺承认，近年来解决方案管理、多样性和包容性办公室存在严重的领导问题，但他坚持认为，这个问题没有被忽视或掩盖。他还发誓要在未来几个月里进行改进，以防止此类问题的发生。

　　民主党议员抨击他们的共和党同事，因为他们认为这是夸大和政治化的部门问题，以引起选举年的关注，而不是努力解决问题。

　　在众议院退伍军人事务委员会举行的这场有争议的听证会前一天，众议院议员根据党派立场弹劾了国土安全部部长亚历杭德罗·马约卡斯(Alejandro Mayorkas)，国会对他处理美国边境安全政策的方式进行了数月的调查。

　　周三，两党之间的紧张关系仍在发酵，麦克多诺将成为下一位面临国会愤怒的内阁部长，未来几周他将面临更严格的审查。

　　“不管需要多长时间，我们都会找到真相，”委员会主席、伊利诺伊州共和党众议员迈克·博斯特(Mike Bost)说。“我们将继续要求司法部给出答案，并将调查进行到底。”

　　博斯特称退伍军人事务部是“一个被不良领导人的有毒文化毒害的支离破碎的组织”，并称这些指控是退伍军人事务部“支离破碎和功能失调”的证据。

　　调查的重点是在ORMDI办公室工作的两名举报人，他们指控主管在几个月里对他们进行了不必要的挑逗，并向他们发送了性骚扰信息。去年秋天，在退伍军人事务部官员对他们的投诉无所作为之后，举报人联系了该委员会。

　　去年秋天，在指控公开后，ORMDI的幕僚长阿奇·戴维斯(Archie Davis)被调任。两名被控无视检举人投诉的官员——ORMDI副助理部长哈维?约翰逊(Harvey Johnson)和人力资源助理部长吉娜?格罗索(Gina Grosso)——已于去年11月离职。

　　问责和举报人保护办公室的官员建议解雇戴维斯，并收回近年来的绩效奖金。他们还建议官员取消约翰逊的奖金，并在官方记录中注明他是在接受调查期间辞职的。

　　麦克多诺在周三的证词中表示，“退伍军人事务部不能容忍性骚扰”，并承认“最近ORMDI未能达到这一目标”。

　　他说:“我向退伍军人和本委员会保证，我们已经严肃对待了有关ORMDI的不当行为的指控。”“退伍军人事务部正在加强其政策、程序、人员、培训和结构，以改善对性骚扰指控的处理，并帮助消除未来的性骚扰。”

　　弗吉尼亚州人力资源助理部长卡桑德拉·劳(Cassandra Law)说，官员们已经采取措施解雇了一名参与调查的人员，并正在制定额外的纪律措施。但是共和党议员对麦克多诺对这些指控的反应速度和其他方面提出了质疑。

　　The committee sent the whistleblower complaints to senior VA leaders in late September, several weeks before the whistleblowers officially filed them with his office. McDonough did not respond directly to the committee until mid-November, although some internal investigative work was started in October.

　　Bost called the delay inexcusable. Members also questioned McDonough’s decision to quietly dismiss Grosso, a move he insisted was not connected to any of the ORMDI failings.

　　“The American people are so upset and angry that no one in the federal government is ever held accountable,” said Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa. “I find the conduct of this office deplorable.”

　　But committee Democrats said they believe the supervisors at fault are being held accountable, albeit more slowly than they would like. Ranking member Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif.,said Republican members publicizing details of the ongoing investigation have damaged that work and hurt efforts for reform.

　　“My colleagues across the aisle are either being intentionally reckless and cavalier with the truth or willfully blind as they continue to push their narrative of widespread misconduct in ORMDI,” he said.

　　Democratic lawmakers also said evidence uncovered by the investigation does not support accusations of widespread mismanagement at VA, and criticized claims leadership is unaware or uncaring.

　　Last month, the committee voted nearly unanimously, with only Takano opposed, to subpoena thousands of documents related to the case and senior leadership response to the accusations. Bost said officials have not yet fully complied with that subpoena.

　　McDonough promised to do so, but several Democrats on the panel said they now feel conflicted by those subpoenas because of misinformation supplied by Republican colleagues. Committee leaders had scheduled a meeting later on Wednesday to issue additional subpoenas but canceled that after McDonough’s appearance.

　　Officials have already provided more than 50,000 documents related to the case, including 40 transcribed interviews from VA’s internal investigations. A heavily redacted copy of the OAWP report was provided to reporters ahead of the committee hearing.

　　McDonough would not directly comment on the report but said it highlights the need to update the department’s policies on fraternization and appropriate workplace behavior. The department does not currently have an anti-fraternization policy regarding relationships between supervisors and subordinates.