38 U.S.C. § 723 — Recoupment of relocation expenses paid on

Page 123 TITLE 38—VETERANS’ BENEFITS § 726 § 723. Recoupment of relocation expenses paid on behalf of employees of Department (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may issue an order directing an employee of the Department to repay the amount, or a portion of the amount, paid to or on behalf of the employee under title 5 for relocation expenses, including any expenses under section 5724 or 5724a of such title, or this title if— (1) the Secretary determines that relocation expenses were paid following an act of fraud or malfeasance that influenced the authorization of the relocation expenses; (2) before such repayment, the employee is afforded— (A) notice of the proposed order; and (B) an opportunity to respond to the pro- posed order not later than ten business days following the receipt of such notice; and (3) the Secretary issues the order— (A) in the case of a proposed order to which an individual responds under para- graph (2)(B), not later than five business days after receiving the response of the indi- vidual; or (B) in the case of a proposed order to which an individual does not respond, not later than 15 business days after the Secretary provides notice to the individual under para- graph (2)(A). (b) APPEAL OF ORDER OF SECRETARY.—(1) Upon the issuance of an order by the Secretary under subsection (a) with respect to an individual, the individual shall have an opportunity to appeal the order to the Director of the Office of Per- sonnel Management before the date that is seven business days after the date of such issuance. (2) The Director shall make a final decision with respect to an appeal under paragraph (1) within 30 days after receiving such appeal. (Added Pub. L. 115–41, title II, § 205(a), June 23, 2017, 131 Stat. 876.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS Prior sections 723 to 729 were renumbered sections 1923 to 1929 of this title, respectively. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 115–41, title II, § 205(c), June 23, 2017, 131 Stat. 877, provided that: ‘‘Section 723 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to an amount paid by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to or on behalf of an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs for relocation expenses on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [June 23, 2017].’’ § 725. Annual performance plan for political ap- pointees (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct an annual performance plan for each political appointee of the Department that is similar to the annual performance plan conducted for an employee of the Department who is appointed as a career appointee (as that term is defined in section 3132(a) of title 5) within the Senior Exec- utive Service at the Department. (b) ELEMENTS OF PLAN.—Each annual perform- ance plan conducted under subsection (a) with respect to a political appointee of the Depart- ment shall include an assessment of whether the appointee is meeting the following goals: (1) Recruiting, selecting, and retaining well- qualified individuals for employment at the Department. (2) Engaging and motivating employees. (3) Training and developing employees and preparing those employees for future leader- ship roles within the Department. (4) Holding each employee of the Depart- ment that is a manager accountable for ad- dressing issues relating to performance, in particular issues relating to the performance of employees that report to the manager. (c) DEFINITION OF POLITICAL APPOINTEE.—In this section, the term ‘‘political appointee’’ means an employee of the Department who holds— (1) a position which has been excepted from the competitive service by reason of its con- fidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character; or (2) a position in the Senior Executive Serv- ice as a noncareer appointee (as such term is defined in section 3132(a) of title 5). (Added Pub. L. 115–46, title II, § 203(a), Aug. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 962.) § 726. Annual report on performance awards and bonuses awarded to certain high-level em- ployees (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 100 days after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con- gress a report that contains, for the most recent fiscal year ending before the submittal of the re- port, a description of all performance awards or bonuses awarded to each of the following: (1) Regional Office Director of the Depart- ment. (2) Director of a Medical Center of the De- partment. (3) Director of a Veterans Integrated Service Network. (4) Senior executive of the Department. (b) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted under subsection (a) shall include the following with respect to each performance award or bonus awarded to an individual described in such sub- section: (1) The amount of each award or bonus. (2) The job title of the individual awarded the award or bonus. (3) The location where the individual award- ed the award or bonus works. (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: (1) The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ means the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs and Appropriations of the Senate and House of Representatives. (2) The term ‘‘senior executive’’ means— (A) a career appointee; or (B) an individual—