Taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for union officials at the Veterans Administration.
The Trump administration issued a new policy that will put an end to the practice known as official time, which forces the federal government to continue paying employees for work conducted on the union’s behalf, for medical staffers.
The agency has been the subject of numerous scandals in recent years following revelations that it doctored records exposing delays in care that resulted in the deaths of dozens of veterans.
President Trump campaigned on reforming the agency and has instituted measures aimed at streamlining service and imposing accountability on employees. In July, President Trump issued an executive order calling on the VA to review its official time practices. The new agency rules will apply to medical personnel, rather than the agency’s clerical workers, including all union physicians, dentists, registered nurses, and chiropractors, among other agency employees.