Buried deep in a briefing filed Friday, Nov. 7 by the Department of Justice in its appeal of Powers v. McDonough — the class-action lawsuit brought against the Department of Veterans Affairs by a group of disabled veterans seeking housing on the West LA VA campus — the government disclosed new rental rates for leases that have been ordered to be terminated by the U.S. District Court for the District of Central California.
The adjusted rates appear in a Congressionally Mandated Report (CMR) that is a requirement of the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016 and is “informed by the (Trump administration’s) executive order (Establishing a National Center for Warrior Independence)” and “articulates VA’s current view of the land-use agreements the validity of which is at issue in the related appeals before the panel.”
“Accordingly, and without prejudice to the outcome of the pending litigation, VA is undertaking a comprehensive review and reassessment of the existing land-use agreements found non-compliant,” the CMR states.
DOJ counsel Daniel Winik specifically highlighted this passage from the CMR in a letter to the Ninth Circuit’s three-judge panel currently weighing the appeal: “VA is prepared to exercise its authority to take all appropriate actions, including the termination of lease agreements and any other available legal remedies, where such agreements are determined to be inconsistent with the WLA Act and other applicable federal laws and regulations.”