Question:

Jim, Thank you for setting up “Jim’s Mailbag.” Here’s my question: What, if anything, do Representatives & Senators typically do when VA, to the Veteran’s distinct disadvantage, demonstrably misrepresents to them, the facts of their constituent’s case at VA? [NB: I’m not taking about a he-said, she-said situation, I’m talking about a situation where the VA tells them, “the record states X,” but when you go to the record, you find it unambiguously states the opposite?

Jim's Reply:

Congresspersons, senators and representatives, are legislators. They make the laws, they have no power to enforce the law that they make. When a veteran seeks  a Congressional inquiry about their claim, the representative (or their aide) will write a simple letter to VA seeking an explanation to the veterans problem. While the representative has no authority to tell VA what to do, this often solves the problem just by the problem being raised to this level.
 

Often enough VA will write to the Congressperson to tell them everything is going according to plan and that ends the inquiry.
 

VA would tell you that mistakes do sometimes happen and that if you discover a mistake worthy of attention, the only thing to do is to appeal and appeal again. You are the only person who can initiate an appeal when you find an error. Go for it.