WASHINGTON (AP) – Two high-ranking officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs were demoted Friday in response to allegations that they manipulated the agency’s hiring system for their own gain.
The VA said in a statement that Diana Rubens and Kimberly Graves were demoted from senior executives – the highest rank for career employees – to general workers within the Veterans Benefits Administration.
Rubens was paid $181,497 as director of the Philadelphia regional office for the VBA, while Graves earned $173,949 as leader of the St. Paul, Minnesota, regional office.
The VA’s acting inspector general said in a report this fall that Rubens and Graves forced lower-ranking regional managers to accept job transfers against their will. Rubens and Graves then stepped into the vacant positions themselves, keeping their pay while reducing their responsibilities.
Rubens and Graves refused to testify to Congress earlier this month, telling lawmakers they were asserting their Fifth Amendment rights to protect themselves against self-incrimination.