New swamp: Lobbyist tied to Energy Departmenta
At a West Virginia rally on tax cuts, President Donald Trump veered off on a subject that likely puzzled most of his audience. "Nine of your people just came up to me outside.
Category Archives: Jeff Miller
Trump’s VA choice bows out in latest Cabinet flame-out
President Donald Trump's White House doctor reluctantly withdrew his nomination to be Veterans Affairs secretary Thursday in the face of accusations of misconduct, the latest embarrassing episode highlighting Trump's struggles to fill key jobs and the perils of his occasional spur-of-the-moment-decision-making. The weeks-long saga surrounding the nomination of Navy Dr. Ronny Jackson leaves the government's second-largest agency without a permanent leader while it faces an immediate crisis with its private health care program.
EDITORIAL: With troubling year behind us, what will 2018 bring?
On this first day of 2018, many of us wish we had crystal balls so that we could see the future. But it's impossible for any of us to know where we will be 365 days from now.
Tax-hike fears fuel talk of HNW exodus from Northeast
Even Bruce McGuire, founder of the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association, understands if wealthy Northeasterners flee the region due to changes in the tax code. The problem for the Connecticut hedge-fund set - and, more broadly, for a lot of the Wall Street crowd - is that Republican proposals in both the House and Senate would drive up taxes for many high-earners in the New York City area.
Donald Trump calls Berlin truck assault ‘attack on humanity’
US President-elect Donald Trump has said the deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in Germany was "an attack on humanity and it's got to be stopped". US President-elect Donald Trump has said the deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in Germany was "an attack on humanity and it's got to be stopped".
Trump hosts candidates for key Veterans Affairs post
President-elect Donald Trump met Tuesday met with candidates for his unfilled Cabinet positions, including prospective hires to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, a beleaguered agency that the Republican businessman has vowed to overhaul. Vice President-elect Mike Pence met with members of his incoming national security team a day after acts of violence rocked the world.
Final days in Congress not equal for all departing lawmakers
This is the time of year when I tend to take a longer look at the list of lawmakers in Congress who are "not voting," as some members of the House and Senate sometimes check out a little early before their terms are finished, while others are more than happy to stick around to the last vote, thoroughly enjoying their final moments on Capitol Hill. "I have a job to do," said Rep. Jeff Miller , who did not run for re-election in November, but has been busily filling his final days with work before his term ends.
Report: Continued delays for veterans at Phoenix VA system
Members of the Chicago City Council on Tuesday considered Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to create and fund a new agency to investigate officer-involved shootings and police misconduct allegations, a proposal that... Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to create a new agency to better investigate police shootings and misconduct allegations is moving toward approval, even as critics say it's not strong enough to keep a close eye... Legal experts say a dashboard camera recording of two California police officers discussing hitting a suspect with their police car does not make it more likely that they will face criminal charges in the fatal... A dashboard camera recording of two California police officers discussing hitting a suspect armed with a knife with their police car before appearing to try to run him down does not make it more likely that they will face... One of two former police officers ... (more)
Phoenix VA builds new backlog; 200 veterans die waiting for care
The Phoenix Veterans Affairs office is still improperly canceling veterans' appointments, has built up a new backlog of cases - and at least one veteran is likely dead because of it, the department's inspector general said in a new report Tuesday. Two years after they first sounded the alarm about secret waiting lists leaving veterans struggling for care at the Phoenix VA, investigators said some services have improved, and cleared the clinic of allegations that top officials ordered staff to cancel appointments.
This former sheriff is awaiting backups on Capitol Hill: a We have a lot to saya
Washington state Republican Rep. Dave Reichert says he doesn't want to be the only former sheriff on Capitol Hill in 2017. Reichert, 66, is a former 33-year lawman who served as King County Sheriff before joining Congress in 2005.
Northport VA hospital’s troubles focus of House panel hearing
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Paul Ryan, Wasserman Schultz to test anti-establishment mood
In this March 21, 2016 file photo, then-Democratic National Committee Chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., is interviewed in New York. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Wasserman Schultz are about to test votersa sA A anti-establishment mood, first hand.
Congressional Committee Seeks Cop Killers’ VA Medical Records
The head of a House committee wants the medical and benefits records of veterans Marine Gavin Eugene Long and Micah Xavier Johnson, who shot and killed police officers in Louisiana and Texas earlier this month. House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., has asked the Veterans Affairs Department to brief the panel's staff and bring an unredacted copies of the full medical records and any benefits claims that Long and Johnson filed with the VA.
Trump’s 10-Step Veterans Reform Plan Includes 24-Hour White House Hotline Answered by a Real Person
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump unveiled his 10-point veterans reform plan at the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, which includes "a private White House hotline" answered by a real person 24 hours a day to field complaints about the Veterans Administration to make sure no complaint "falls through the cracks." "I will create a private White House hotline that is answered by a real person 24 hours a day to make sure that no valid complaint about the VA ever falls through the cracks," Trump said, adding that if a "valid complaint is not acted upon," he will "pick up the phone personally" and get it taken care of.
VA advisory group: Critics wrong to ignore ‘MyVA’ reforms
A veterans medical center is seen in San Diego on May 2, 2016. A proposal that a Washington lawmaker made on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, is calling for the nation's veterans hospitals to be transferred from the Department of Veterans Affairs to a charitable nonprofit corporation.
The VA’s strained relationship with the truth
The Department of Veterans Affairs has had a lot to say in recent years regarding its failed attempts at building VA hospitals. But the key question is whether VA officials' construction-related pronouncements are to be believed.
Billions spent to fix VA didn’t solve problems
A commission tasked by Congress with trying to fix the troubled Veterans Health Administration has just concluded a damning report, finding that "many profound deficiencies" at the troubled agency "require urgent reform." The report indicates the billions pumped into the VA since the wait-list scandal erupted two years ago have failed to relieve many of the problems in delivering health care to veterans.
Veteran groups uniting to oppose privatized care, defend VA
The nation's leading veteran services organizations are rallying behind the Department of Veterans Affairs and its beleaguered health-care system, touting the experience of staff, the breadth of services and its holistic approach to care delivery that they argue the private sector cannot match. The VSOs are warning of politicians and groups with agendas that constantly criticize VA health care, refuse to acknowledge reforms and thus advance a camouflaged campaign to dismantle VA health care.
Lawmakers fume after VA ditches power to fire employees
The Department of Veterans Affairs has angered and frustrated lawmakers by deciding to stop using their authority to fire senior employees, an authority Congress gave the VA in response to the wait-times scandal of 2014. "Everyone knows VA isn't very good at disciplining employees, but this decision calls into question whether department leaders are even interested in doing so," House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said Friday.
Lawmakers blast Loretta Lynch for supporting fired VA official
Top Republican lawmakers blasted Attorney General Loretta Lynch Wednesday for clearing a legal path for a former Veterans Affairs official at the heart of the waiting time scandal to get her job back. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the decision by Ms.