VA official in charge of backlog resigns

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administrator charged with reducing the backlog of benefits claims by veterans has resigned, according to reports.

Allison A. Hickey, who oversaw the benefits wing of the department, quit her job amid a congressional investigation into misuse of taxpayer funds.

{mosads}Under her watch, the VA backlog fell from 611,000 claims in March of 2013 to fewer than 74,000, although the reliability of those statistics has been called into question.

VA Secretary Bob McDonald announced Hickey’s resignation in a statement on Friday, but did not offer a reason for her departure. He praised Hickey for her “commitment to excellence and service to our country.”

An internal watchdog investigation released several weeks ago found irregularities in promotions and reimbursements among senior executives in her department.

Nearly two-dozen executives were promoted and given raises despite a pay freeze among top-level employees.

One senior executive was also improperly reimbursed for $300,000 in relocation expenses approved by Hickey, the report found.

The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs scheduled a hearing on the matter for this Wednesday and called for Hickey to appear as a witness.

Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) has been critical of her management, saying she “was not cut out for the job.”

“She leaves the department amid a damning office of inspector general report linking her to a scheme in which senior Veteran Benefits Administration (VBA) officials abused their authority, resulting in the misuse of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars,” Miller said in a statement.

“And though VA statistics show the disability benefits backlog shrank on her watch, those figures must be taken with a healthy grain of salt in light of assertions from prominent veterans groups and even VA’s own inspector general that the department’s backlog numbers are not to be trusted,” he continued.

In a farewell email to colleagues, Hickey said her goal during her four-and-a-half years with the department was to “transform VBA and to help so many veterans, service members, their families and survivors.”