Second VA official resigns in scandal

Official who had oversight of the planning and execution of the two human resources conferences in 2011 has stepped down.

Rep. Darrell Issa

Issa: 'VA is not yet positioned to move beyond this abuse.'

A second official from the Veterans Affairs Department has resigned after a conference spending scandal erupted in 2012, according to a news report.

Alice Muellerweiss, dean of the VA Learning University, has left her position, the Washington Examiner reported Jan. 8.

According to a VA inspector general report, Muellerweiss had oversight of the planning and execution of the two human resources conferences in 2011. Before Muellerweiss, John Sepulveda, VA’s assistant secretary for human resources and administration, resigned a day prior to the IG report’s release Oct. 1, 2012.

In a statement, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the department is in a leadership crisis.

“The parade of VA officials slowly stepping down over several months without accepting responsibility is a troubling sign that the VA is not yet positioned to move beyond this abuse,” he said.