H.R. 6682 – Protecting VA Employees Act

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Updated February 8, 2026 at 9:19 AM UTC

The Protecting VA Employees Act changes federal law so that certain Department of Veterans Affairs workers are covered by the same removal, demotion, and suspension rules that apply to other federal employees. It eliminates the VA’s separate disciplinary system and restores some pre‑2017 grievance procedures for Veterans Health Administration staff.

Key Provisions

Repeals the special removal, demotion, and suspension processes for designated VA employees by amending sections of Title 38 and Title 5 of the U.S. Code.
Aligns VA employee disciplinary rules with the general federal employee rules, ensuring they are treated the same as other federal workers.
Renames and reorganizes the relevant statutory sections to reflect whistleblower protections and the new alignment.
Restores specific disciplinary and grievance procedures for Veterans Health Administration personnel to the state they were in before the 2017 VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act.

Legislative Activity

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HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Veterans' Affairs Committee

February 9, 2022

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

February 9, 2022

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Veterans' Affairs Committee

February 9, 2022

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued February 9, 2022

I

117th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 6682

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 9, 2022

Mr. Lamb (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend titles 38 and 5, United States Code, to ensure that certain employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs are subject to the same removal, demotion, and suspension policies as other employees of the Federal Government, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Protecting VA Employees Act.

2.

Repeal of separate removal, demotion, and suspension processes for certain employees of Department of Veterans Affairs

(a)

Repeal

(1)

Title 38

Section 714 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—

(A)

by striking subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (g);

(B)

by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (h) as subsections (a), (b), and (c), respectively;

(C)

in subsection (a), as so redesignated, by striking under subsection (a) each place it appears; and

(D)

in subsection (c), as so redesignated—

(i)

by striking paragraphs (3) and (4); and

(ii)

by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively.

(2)

Title 5

Section 4303(f) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

(A)

in paragraph (2), by striking the comma at the end and inserting , or;

(B)

in paragraph (3), by striking , or and inserting a period; and

(C)

by striking paragraph (4).

(b)

Conforming amendments

Chapter 7 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—

(1)

in section 719, by striking under section 713, 714, or 7461 of this title each place it appears and inserting under section 713 or 7461 of this title;

(2)

in section 714, as amended by subsection (a), by striking the section heading and inserting Protections for whistleblowers from removal, demotion, and suspension;

(3)

by redesignating section 714 as section 734;

(4)

by transferring section 734, as so redesignated, so as to appear after section 733; and

(5)

in the table of sections—

(A)

by striking the item relating to section 714; and

(B)

by inserting after the item relating to section 733 the following new item:

734. Protections for whistleblowers from removal, demotion, and suspension.

.

3.

Restoration of certain disciplinary and grievance procedures for personnel of the Veterans Health Administration

The following provisions of title 38, United States Code, are each amended to read as such provisions read on the day before the date of the enactment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–41):

(1)

Section 7461(b).

(2)

Section 7462(b).

(3)

Section 7463(c).