V.A. Wants to Scrap For-Profit Ethics Law

The Department of Veterans Affairs is pushing to suspend a 50-year-old ethics law that prevents employees from receiving money or owning a stake in for-profit colleges that pocket hundreds of millions of dollars in tuition paid through the G.I. Bill of Rights.

The agency says the conflict-of-interest law — enacted after scandals enveloped the for-profit education industry — is now redundant and outdated, with “illogical and unintended consequences” affecting employees who have no real conflict of interest, such as a V.A. doctor teaching a course at a school attended by veterans with educational benefits.

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