{"id":2244551,"date":"2024-05-14T18:46:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T22:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-va-erroneously-paid-out-big-bonuses-to-federal-employees\/"},"modified":"2024-05-14T18:51:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T22:51:54","slug":"report-va-erroneously-paid-out-big-bonuses-to-federal-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-va-erroneously-paid-out-big-bonuses-to-federal-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"Article: VA Mistakenly Distributed Large Bonuses to Government Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/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%2Freport-va-erroneously-paid-out-big-bonuses-to-federal-employees%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=2244551&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>Summary: A recent federal watchdog report revealed that the\u200c Department of Veterans Affairs mistakenly paid over $10.8 million in bonuses to its senior executives. This error formed part \u2064of hundreds of millions in bonuses distributed by the agency. The executives were ordered to repay the funds, sparking controversy\u200d and allegations of mismanagement. \u200bRepublican lawmakers criticized the\u2064 agency for the oversight.  <\/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<header> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/news\/\">  News <\/a>   <span> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/ajose\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <span>   By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/ajose\/%20\"><span>Andrew Jose<\/span><\/a> <\/span> <span>   May 14, 2024 at 12:37pm <\/span> <\/span>  <\/header>\n<section>\n<p>The Department of Veterans Affairs erroneously disbursed millions of dollars in bonuses to its senior executives, a federal watchdog report found.<\/p>\n<p>No less than $10.8 million was sent out wrongly by the organization as part of hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses distributed to agency employees, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2024\/05\/09\/va-bonuses-top-executives-pact-act-improper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The highest amount paid out erroneously was $106,473, according to the Post. And seven executives received bonuses of $100,000 each, the Post reported.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Veterans Affairs revealed that it had made the errors in September 2023 and VA Secretary Denis McDonough ordered the executives to repay the money, the Post reported.<\/p>\n<p>However, many who received the bonuses had already spent the money, according to the Post, and others are challenging the order.<\/p>\n<p>The organization also notified Congress and the office of VA Inspector General Michael Missal, according to the Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe episode exposes a litany of blunders and missing safeguards within VA as its top leaders disregarded rules to hand payouts to all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cruz-gop-will-win-senate-and-unraveling-bidens-assault-on-religion-will-be-first-priority\/\" title=\"Cruz: GOP Will Win Senate, And Unraveling Biden\u2019s Assault On Religion Will Be First Priority\">career senior leaders<\/a> in the D.C. headquarters of the health and benefits systems \u2014 then failed to keep McDonough and others informed about the plan, Missal\u2019s office found,\u201d the Post reported.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/harry-meghans-charity-falls-apart-banned-raising-funds-money-problems-delinquency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">money<\/a> was sent mistakenly as critical skill incentive disbursements to around 182 of the organization\u2019s senior executives, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaoig.gov\/reports\/administrative-investigation\/va-improperly-awarded-108-million-incentives-central-office\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from the IG\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>The funds were disbursed in packages ranging from approximately $39,000 to more than $100,000 each, according to the OIG report.<\/p>\n<div id=\"firefly-poll-container\">\n<p>Should any federal employee earn over $100,000 a year in bonuses?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Introduced as part of the 2022 Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, the critical skill incentive program is an initiative aimed at attracting and retaining talent for the Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n<p>Republican lawmakers slammed the agency for the error.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring oversight visits across the country, we have consistently heard from VA police officers, medical supply technicians, housekeepers, and other VA staff about the need for VA to better retain quality employees,\u201d Republican House Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HouseVetAffairs\/status\/1788651656688685217\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> shared by the House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs account on the social media platform X.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Chairman <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepBost?\">@RepBost<\/a>\u2018s full statement on VA\u2019s bonus distribution failure \u2013\u2013<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring oversight visits across the country, we have consistently heard from VA police officers, medical supply technicians, housekeepers, and other VA staff about the need for VA to better retain quality\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yggW9BFUfO\">https:\/\/t.co\/yggW9BFUfO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs (@HouseVetAffairs) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HouseVetAffairs\/status\/1788651656688685217?\">May 9, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Bost serves as the committee\u2019s chairman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of using all of the critical skill incentives to do this, VA inappropriately used the money to line the pockets of VA executives to the detriment of VA\u2019s workforce and the veterans they serve,\u201d Bost added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe over $10 million dollars in overpayments to VA central office employees were not some type of administrative mistake \u2013 that\u2019s a serious problem for the second largest agency in the federal government \u2013 and we\u2019re going to get to the bottom of it come hell or high water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Office of the Inspector General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/alvin-braggs-top-trump-prosecutor-comes-official-investigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">investigation<\/a> found significant issues with the awarding of CSI program benefits to nearly all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/veterans-affairs-gave-nearly-11-million-meant-for-recruitment-and-retention-to-top-executives-watchdog\/\" title=\"VA Watchdog: Top Executives Received Nearly  Million Meant for Recruitment and Retention\">central office executives<\/a> in the Veterans Health Administration and Veterans Benefits Administration.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the awards lacked adequate justification and did not comply with the PACT Act and VA policy, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/flashback-former-ag-barr-initiated-spying-program-on-americans-back-in-1992\/\" title=\"FLASHBACK: Former AG Barr Initiated Spying Program on Americans Back in 1992\">investigation found<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Another issue the watchdog identified was a lack of transparency from the VHA regarding the scope and costs associated with its CSI program.<\/p>\n<p>This, according to the watchdog, made it difficult to assess whether the incentives were necessary or appropriately allocated.<\/p>\n<p>The Office of the Inspector General also identified that VA human resources, administration\/operations, security, and preparedness department staffers showed \u201cexcessive deference\u201d to under-secretaries and senior leaders, failing to satisfactorily challenge decisions, such as those relating to the payment disbursements.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p><b><i>An Important Message from Our Staff:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><span>We who work here at The Western Journal have fought for years against Big Tech and the elites who want to shut us down and then shut America down. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Make no mistake \u2014 nothing will be the same after November 2024. Will you help us fight? Will you <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>help us expose the America-hating elites<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>  who will do everything they can to steal this election? <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>We\u2019re a small group of people fighting to save the country for our readers and for our own family and friends. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>Can we count on your help?<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span>At this point, Big Tech has cut off our access to 90% of advertisers. Imagine if someone took 90% of your paycheck and there was nothing you could do. They\u2019re trying to starve us out.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Donations from readers like you have literally helped keep our lights on, and <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>we need you<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>  now more than ever. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>We operate on a shoestring budget, but with that budget, we terrify the globalists. Please help us continue the fight. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>Stand with us<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>, and we will never surrender.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Thank you for reading The Western Journal and for believing in America. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>It is a pleasure to serve you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>P.S. Please don\u2019t let the America-hating left win. <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><i><span>Stand with us today<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"author-info-45471\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/ajose\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<div>\n<p><label for=\"summary-tab-radio-45471\">Summary<\/label><label for=\"more-info-tab-radio-45471\">More<span> Biographical Information<\/span><\/label><label for=\"posts-tab-radio-45471\">Recent<span> Posts<\/span><\/label><label for=\"contact-tab-radio-45471\" onclick=\"if( typeof grecaptcha=='undefined' ) { let cap_s=document.createElement( 'script' ); cap_s.src='https:\/\/www.google.com\/recaptcha\/api.js?render=6LeJFcsUAAAAAPsIEqvB1EebWbZfqRUe6ebMpGy7'; document.body.appendChild( cap_s ); }\">Contact<\/label><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>News reporter and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/major-update-after-inmates-charged-with-heinous-crimes-escape-jail\/\" title=\"Significant Development: Escape of Inmates Charged with Serious Crimes\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freshman-nc-dem-dollars-biden-on-iran-deal\/\" title=\"Freshman NC Dem Dollars Biden on Iran Deal\">international affairs<\/a> analyst published<\/a> and syndicated in over 100 national and international outlets, including The National Interest, The Daily Caller, and The Western Journal. Covers international affairs, security, and U.S. politics. Master of Arts in Security Policy Studies candidate at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>  News reporter and international affairs analyst published and syndicated in over 100 national and international outlets, including The National Interest, The Daily Caller, and The Western Journal. Covers international affairs, security, and U.S. politics. Master of Arts in Security Policy Studies candidate at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs. Follow Andrew on Twitter: @RealAndrewJose <\/p>\n<p>  Education <\/p>\n<p>  Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service <\/p>\n<p>  Location <\/p>\n<p>  Washington, District of Columbia <\/p>\n<p>  Languages Spoken <\/p>\n<p>  English, Spanish, Tamil, Hindi, French, Russian <\/p>\n<p>  Topics of Expertise <\/p>\n<p>  International Politics, National Security, U.S. Politics <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent report by a federal watchdog, the Department of Veterans Affairs wrongly issued over $10.8 million in bonuses to senior executives. This error was part of a larger sum of hundreds of millions of dollars distributed as bonuses across the agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":2244552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/va-office-for-may-14-2024.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2244551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/va-office-for-may-14-2024.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2244551","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\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2244551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2244551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2244552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2244551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2244551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2244551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}