VA lawyer who built a veterans guardianship policy faces Senate questions on a judgeship

About 700 veterans in VA facilities have no family to speak for them and cannot make their own health care decisions. A senator called that arrangement a conflict of interest Wednesday, Sept. 23, while questioning Robert Fleck, the VA lawyer who says he built it.

Fleck, VA Deputy General Counsel and a nominee for a fifteen-year term on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, appeared before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "Yes, I led the establishment on it," Fleck said. The March 11 memorandum between VA and the Justice Department lets VA attorneys, deputized as federal prosecutors called special assistant U.S. attorneys, initiate state-court guardianship proceedings for veterans deemed unable to make medical or placement decisions.

Advocacy groups including Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund have warned this could lead to unnecessary institutionalization and loss of rights. The senator said VA would not commit to monitoring cases. "It's a dereliction of duty," she said. "And because of this and other major concerns, I cannot support your confirmation."

Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska sits on the committee.