WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs will no longer use its authority to fire senior executives in an expedited manner – dropping a key portion of a law Congress passed two years ago in response to a nationwide scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking medical care.

VA officials have told Congress that their decision to abandon the new authority was forced on them after the Justice Department said it would no longer defend the provision in court.

The Justice Department told Congress last month that it was not contesting a legal argument by a fired VA official at the center of the scandal.

Sharon Helman, the former director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System, argues in court papers that the 2014 law is unconstitutional and denies her right to appeal her firing.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a May 31 letter that the Justice Department essentially agrees with Helman’s argument, citing a law that requires appeals of high-level firings to go to the Merit Systems Protection Board, a quasi-judicial agency that reviews personnel actions by the executive branch.

The 2014 law sends an employee’s appeal directly to an administrative judge, whose ruling is final.

Congress adopted the law amid frustration by lawmakers of both parties, who said the VA and other federal agencies were too slow to fire employees for wrongdoing.

Lawmakers were incensed by reports that veterans on secret waiting lists in Phoenix and other cities faced scheduling delays of up to a year. As many as 40 veterans died while awaiting care at the Phoenix VA hospital, according to an investigation by the VA’s inspector general.

Similar problems were soon discovered nationwide.

Republicans called the agency’s decision to abandon the expedited firings outrageous.

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