{"id":2241284,"date":"2024-05-09T19:16:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T23:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/veterans-affairs-gave-nearly-11-million-meant-for-recruitment-and-retention-to-top-executives-watchdog\/"},"modified":"2024-05-09T19:20:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T23:20:38","slug":"veterans-affairs-gave-nearly-11-million-meant-for-recruitment-and-retention-to-top-executives-watchdog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/veterans-affairs-gave-nearly-11-million-meant-for-recruitment-and-retention-to-top-executives-watchdog\/","title":{"rendered":"VA Watchdog: Top Executives Received Nearly $11 Million Meant for Recruitment and Retention"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fveterans-affairs-gave-nearly-11-million-meant-for-recruitment-and-retention-to-top-executives-watchdog%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2241284&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dr-fauci-faces-renewed-criticism-over-past-remarks-about-new-york-serving-as-a-model-for-fighting-pandemic\/\" title=\"Dr. Fauci faces renewed criticism over past remarks about New York serving as a model for fighting pandemic\">report revealed<\/a> that Veterans Affairs misused \u2062funds intended\u200d for crucial \u2064staff \u2062recruitment, awarding over $60,000 in bonuses to 180 executives,\u2064 totaling nearly $11 million. VA Undersecretary for Health \u2062approved bonuses for 148 executives, while Veterans Benefits Administration&#8217;s Joshua Jacobs granted 34 additional bonuses. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/facing-pressure-from-democrats-biden-lifts-refugee-cap-to-62500\/\" title=\"Facing Pressure From Democrats, Biden Lifts Refugee Cap to 62,500\">issue led<\/a> to repayments and challenges, impacting \u2064trust in VA. The report exposed the\u2062 misappropriation of funds at Veterans Affairs, where over $60,000 in bonuses \u2062were\u200c granted to 180 executives, amounting\u200d to almost $11 million. \u200bVA&#8217;s Undersecretary for Health sanctioned bonuses for 148\u2062 executives, with an additional 34 bonuses approved by Joshua Jacobs from the Veterans \u2063Benefits Administration.\u2063 The repercussions included repayments and challenges, causing trust issues within the VA.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Funds earmarked to recruit and retain staff for critical shortage positions within <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-veterans-affairs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Veterans Affairs <\/a>were inappropriately used to pay more than 180 senior executives bonuses worth almost $11 million last year, a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaoig.gov\/reports\/administrative-investigation\/va-improperly-awarded-108-million-incentives-central-office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>report<\/a> revealed.<\/p>\n<p>VA Undersecretary for Health Shereef Elnahal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/05\/09\/va-bonuses-top-executives-pact-act-improper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>signed off<\/a> on bonuses for 148 executives averaging more than $60,000, according to the 92-page report from Inspector General Michael Missal\u2019s office. Joshua Jacobs, who leads the Veterans Benefits Administration, gave away an additional 34 bonuses worth $50,000 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/angel-buffy-actress-charisma-carpenter-accuses-joss-whedon-of-misconduct\/\" title=\"\u2018Angel,\u2019 \u2018Buffy\u2019 Actress Charisma Carpenter Accuses Joss Whedon Of Misconduct\">top-level executives<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough laughs as he waits for a speech by President Joe Biden about supply chain issues in the Indian Treaty Room on the White House complex in Washington, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. (AP Photo\/Andrew Harnik)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At least seven executives received more than $100,000 in bonuses, but Elnahal reportedly did not inform Secretary Denis McDonough of the extent of the payments. It wasn\u2019t until last September that VA Secretary Denis McDonough learned of the payments and then ordered all of the executives to repay the VA. However, Missal found that most had already spent their checks, and some were challenging the order.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe missteps \u2026 clearly had the potential to damage the confidence placed in VA by veterans, employees, taxpayers, and members of Congress,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n<p>Neither Elnahal nor Jacobs, appointed by the Biden administration last year, analyzed whether the bonuses were earned, per the report, nor was there any document or data showing that these executives were at risk of quitting, for the turnover rate for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/facebook-caved-to-turkish-government-demands-blocked-group-to-protect-business-interests\/\" title=\"Facebook Caved To Turkish Government Demands, Blocked Group To Protect Business Interests\">top executives<\/a> was just 2.4%.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere did not appear to be a valid retention concern supporting these incentives,\u201d the report found, adding that because of this, \u201cthe blanket award of [bonuses] to all \u2026 central office executives at the highest allowable percentage without sufficient justification was inconsistent with both the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/resources\/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>PACT Act<\/a> and VA policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>VA offices, such as human resources and the legal department, failed to flag these bonuses, which investigators found to be a \u201cbreakdown in leadership and controls and missed opportunities at multiple levels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elnahal had allegedly told investigators that he had no idea that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cdc-to-release-revised-guidance-reducing-covid-19-quarantine-time-from-14-days-to-7-10\/\" title=\"CDC to release revised guidance reducing COVID-19 quarantine time from 14 days to 7-10\">health system<\/a> has more than 150 senior executives when he signed off on the awards. \u201cI had no idea that we had upwards of 150 of them,\u201d he said, according to the report. \u201cI think if I had known that, my management instinct would be to get the same level of justifications together and the costs [as for the field executives].\u201d However, the report reveals that Elnahal received an email that included a spreadsheet listing each leader due for a bonus.<\/p>\n<p>The report found that Deputy Counsel for Legal Operations Brent Pope was shocked when he reviewed the health system\u2019s justification after the awards were questioned by the secretary<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI honestly couldn\u2019t believe it. I said, \u2018Is that all that was there?\u2019\u201d Pope said, noting the documents revealed that top executives \u201cwere all given 25 percent and the justification was \u2026 two sentences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The VA is in the middle of a legal review with hopes of receiving those misallocated bonuses. McDonough is calling on the VA\u2019s Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection to determine if any disciplinary action should be brought against the leaders involved in the bonuses.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent report disclosed that funds designated for recruiting and retaining essential staff at VA were diverted to award bonuses exceeding $60,000 to over 180 senior executives. Last year, bonuses totaling nearly $11 million were approved by VA Undersecretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, sparking controversy over the allocation of resources<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2542,"featured_media":2241285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23331795529897.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2241284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23331795529897.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2241284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2241285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2241284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2241284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2241284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}