Allison Hickey, VA Benefits Chief Resigns
The Veterans Affairs Department’s benefits chief resigned last week despite recent support from fellow coworkers and colleagues following several VA scandals in the last few months. She served as the undersecretary of benefits and was responsible for the oversight of some 20,000 VA employees. Allison Hickey also managed benefits for more than 12 million veterans.
Hickey was one the last remaining officials who served under former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and was frequently lauded for her work towards modernizing the department and educating veterans. Despite positive words from colleagues, critics were often harsh and held her responsible for poor management decisions.
Several critics, including Representative Jeff Miller, a republican from Florida, have been asking for her resignation since 2013. Miller led the charge for her resignation after benefit backlogs grew to more than 60,000. In 2014, the American Legion joined the effort to secure her resignation as well as the resignation of former Secretary Shinseki and the former Undersecretary of Health Robert Petzel. The American Legion claimed the three individuals were culpable in increased wait times and data manipulation.
Renewed efforts to secure her resignation surfaced last month when reports of the relocation bonuses abuse hit the news. An inspector general said that Hickey should be investigation for “negligent oversight,” and a committee is scheduled to meet this week to determine whether an investigation is necessary.
Several Veterans Affairs employees were fired last month following a scandal that involved several millions of dollars spent on bonuses and wages that were unwarranted, according to a report for the VA Attorney General’s Office. During her tenure, Hickey also witnessed longer delays for federal benefits as well as a scandal involving data manipulation.
Despite frequent calls for her job, insiders say that Allison Hickey resigned of her own accord and that she was simply tired from the repeated efforts to get her resignation. A source at the VA’s office told reporters “There are only so many times you can back into the cauldron before you get fed up…”
As an undersecretary at the Veteran’s Affairs office Hickey has championed for women veteran’s issues and often discussed the need for more celebration of women’s military service. She also encouraged female veterans to go after benefits and assistance they earned while serving the country.
Allison Hickey wrote a letter to her employees prior to her resignation to express her love of the job. In her letter she told employees, “There has never been a job I have been blessed to do that was so rich with purpose; no customer so honored to serve; no team so amazing to work alongside as this noble mission. But, we aren’t done yet. There is more to do.”
Hickey’s resignation was effective Monday. Danny Pummill, Principal Deputy Under Secretary will serve as interim secretary.
The Veteran’s Affairs department has been the subject of several investigations and media storms over the last several months, with accusations of fraud and data manipulation. As of September, the VA had reduced their backlog of cases older than 125 days with hopes or deciding all cases within 125 days by next year.
