Metro East Sun

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) announced that his oversight team has visited the Mountain Home VA Medical Center in Tennessee. This visit follows allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and inappropriate relationships at the facility. These issues were initially reported by Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Shereef Elnahal, in July and later corroborated by whistleblowers. Chairman Bost has since sent three letters to Secretary McDonough regarding the situation.

"For months I have been pressuring the Biden-Harris administration to give Congress some answers on what is going on at the Mountain Home VA following disturbing allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and inappropriate relationships that were brought to my attention earlier this year," stated Chairman Bost. "After months of little to no information and waiting, enough was enough."

Bost emphasized the need for accountability and urged a prompt investigation into why facility leadership did not act swiftly on these allegations. He stressed the importance of providing answers to Congress, VA's workforce, and veterans.

The Committee under Bost’s leadership has consistently highlighted mismanagement within VA concerning misconduct allegations. Besides the Mountain Home incident, there have been other instances involving mishandled sexual harassment claims against leadership within both the Atlanta VA police force and VA’s Office of Resolution Management, Diversity & Inclusion.

These recent events suggest a recurring failure by VA leadership to adequately address serious allegations.