{"id":2270182,"date":"2024-06-18T04:26:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T08:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/va-bonus-scandal-presents-a-rare-case-of-government-fixing-a-problem-it-created\/"},"modified":"2024-06-18T04:35:20","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T08:35:20","slug":"va-bonus-scandal-presents-a-rare-case-of-government-fixing-a-problem-it-created","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/va-bonus-scandal-presents-a-rare-case-of-government-fixing-a-problem-it-created\/","title":{"rendered":"VA Bonus Scandal: A Unique Instance of Government Solving Its Own Mistake"},"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\">24<\/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%2Fva-bonus-scandal-presents-a-rare-case-of-government-fixing-a-problem-it-created%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=2270182&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>The excerpt\u200b discusses a controversy \u200binvolving undeserved taxpayer-funded bonuses\u200b awarded \u2062to senior\u200b officials at the Veterans \u200dAdministration (VA). These bonuses came from legislation\u2063 aimed at expanding benefits\u2062 for veterans exposed \u200bto toxic \u200csubstances, which also authorized a \u200cnew program for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-va-erroneously-paid-out-big-bonuses-to-federal-employees\/\" title=\"Article: VA Mistakenly Distributed Large Bonuses to Government Workers\">critical skill incentives<\/a>. However, the distribution of these incentives raised questions, as \u200bsenior \u2062executives at VA \u2064central office\u200b received disproportionately high bonuses averaging nearly $60,000, without \u200dproper justification, in contrast to field staff who received much less.<\/p>\n<p>Denis \u200dMcDonough, the Secretary\u2063 of Veterans Affairs, took action to rescind\u2062 and recover these bonuses \u2063once he \u2063became aware of the issue. This situation highlights several \u200bbureaucratic \u200binefficiencies, including a lack of individualized justifications for the\u200b bonuses, and \u2063potential conflicts of interest among employees who had\u200d a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-said-ev-maker-proterra-was-getting-us-in-the-game-it-just-declared-bankruptcy\/\" title=\"Biden praised Proterra, but it filed for bankruptcy.\">financial\u2063 stake<\/a>\u2062 in\u200c the decisions. An Inspector General (IG) report criticized the process, indicating it might even involve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-zealand-parliament-acknowledges-pain-of-miscarriage-with-new-paid-leave-law-but-still-has-loose-abortion-restrictions\/\" title=\"New Zealand Parliament Acknowledges Pain Of Miscarriage With New Paid Leave Law, But Still Has Loose Abortion Restrictions\">criminal statute<\/a> \u2062violations. \u200dthe \u200cepisode \u200cnot \u2062only points to mismanagement within the VA\u2064 but also underscores broader issues of accountability and governance\u200c in government agencies.  <\/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<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>It\u2019s rare for this observer to say a government official, much less a Biden administration Cabinet member, did the right thing. But in at least one case, such an official did just that. Unfortunately, the official did so only to remedy a problem his own department\u2019s mismanagement and corruption had created.<\/p>\n<p>A recent House Veterans Affairs Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/veterans.house.gov\/calendar\/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=6461\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hearing<\/a> examined a scandal whereby senior Veterans Administration\/Affairs (VA) officials received millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded bonuses they did not deserve. Secretary Denis McDonough took swift action to rescind and recover the money on behalf of taxpayers once he finally discovered the scandal, but the ordeal raises obvious questions about the bureaucratic mess that led to this fiasco.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1604609829\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-41776234dec88f93adf735e97c97b456 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-41776234dec88f93adf735e97c97b456\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bureaucratic Cash Grab<\/h2>\n<p>The bonuses in question came as a result of the \u201cburn pits\u201d legislation Congress passed in 2022, which expanded eligibility for benefits to veterans exposed to toxic substances. In that bill, Congress authorized a new type of incentive program, called critical skill incentives, intended to reward people in mission-critical positions who would bear increased responsibilities due to the growth of the VA\u2019s caseload.<\/p>\n<p>As McDonough noted in his <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.house.gov\/meetings\/VR\/VR00\/20240604\/117374\/HHRG-118-VR00-Wstate-McDonoughD-20240604.pdf\">testimony<\/a> to the committee, most of the incentive payments have gone to VA personnel out in the field (i.e., at VA clinics) working in areas such as housekeeping, food service, police, and HR. These awards have averaged about $8,000 \u2014 what in the private sector might constitute a decent-sized Christmas bonus or year-end performance award for a job well done.<\/p>\n<p>By comparison, the awards to senior executives at the VA central office averaged nearly $60,000 \u2014 more than seven times the average amount paid to field staff, and in some cases equal to what said field staff might receive in an entire year. As the inspector general (IG) explained in <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.house.gov\/meetings\/VR\/VR00\/20240604\/117374\/HHRG-118-VR00-Wstate-MissalM-20240604.pdf\">testimony<\/a> to the committee, and in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaoig.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/reports\/2024-05\/vaoig-23-03773-169.pdf\">longer report<\/a> released last month, the process by which the central office staff received their incentives left much to be desired.<\/p>\n<p>In two branches of the VA, \u201cthe only \u2026 senior executives <em>not<\/em> offered [incentives] were those considered ineligible under the delegation of authority \u2026 [i.e., political appointees] and one senior executive \u2026 due to performance issues\u201d (emphasis original). What started out as a program to reward performance in mission-critical positions turned into a version of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pviYWzu0dzk\">Oprah\u2019s Favorite Things<\/a>\u201d: <em>You get a bonus! You get a bonus! Everybody gets a bonus!!!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e387f9839e661e9103cec745e915fe4e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e387f9839e661e9103cec745e915fe4e\"><\/div>\n<p>Rather than including individualized justifications for the awards, officials instead submitted a blanket, one-paragraph description justifying incentives for more than 100 individuals, many of whom perform differing functions. One HR official told the IG the process was absurd: \u201cI can\u2019t even give a GS [general schedule, i.e., lower-ranking] employee a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taiwan-celebrates-linguistic-diversity-at-annual-music-awards\/\" title=\"Taiwan honors diverse languages at yearly music awards.\">special contribution award<\/a> for $250 without writing an entire page about how great they are and forms and process. And this, with the stroke of a pen and three sentences, they\u2019re saying these folks are critical because they\u2019re critical, giving all these people this huge amount of money.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Another employee in the general counsel\u2019s office thought the process \u201csilly\u201d \u2014 \u201cI honestly couldn\u2019t believe it. I said, \u2018Is that all that was there?\u2019\u201d \u2014 because senior executives \u201cwere all given 25 percent [bonuses] and the justification was \u2026 two sentences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the case of one VA branch, officials claimed, \u201cSenior Executives\u2019 responsibilities are on par with those of chief executives in the private sector,\u201d making their compensation paltry by comparison. (<em>Seriously<\/em>?) There is of course another big difference: CEOs in the private sector can and do get fired for poor performance \u2014 unlike most government bureaucrats. And the office in question had lower than average turnover, raising the obvious question of why VA would need to pay 25 percent bonuses to retain staff.<\/p>\n<p>The IG noted that some staff involved in this fiasco may have violated a criminal statute that prohibits federal employees from participating personally in matters in which they have a financial interest. While none of these conflicted individuals had final sign-off on the bonuses, they participated in discussions in which they had a personal financial stake \u2014 potential grounds for termination, if not prosecution.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3c167bee0bc027ffdac160024afacae7 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3c167bee0bc027ffdac160024afacae7\"><\/div>\n<p>The assistant secretary for HR took a lackadaisical attitude toward approving the bonuses, even though more junior personnel in her office raised concerns specifically with her. In justifying her approval of the bonuses, the assistant secretary told the IG she was \u201cjust a signature along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The entire IG report reads like an episode of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/01\/23\/yes-minister-shows-the-foibles-of-the-deep-state\/\">Yes, Minister<\/a>,\u201d with equal parts incompetence, inattentiveness, and connivance as officials made a grab for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-breaks-silence-as-hamas-terror-missiles-blast-israel\/\" title=\"Biden Breaks Silence as Hamas Terror Missiles Blast Israel\">taxpayer cash<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Belated Accountability<\/h2>\n<p>Even the way McDonough came to learn of the scandal seems absurd. The department\u2019s chief financial officer reported to him about a potential problem because VA personnel were coming to his office wondering why they had not received the bonuses they had been expecting. <em>Will ya get a move on and write me this big taxpayer check I don\u2019t deserve already???<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To his credit, McDonough did take decisive action once he (finally) learned about this scandal. Within a week last September, he publicly admitted the problem, canceled the pending payments, took action to recoup the payments that had already been made, increased controls and checks related to bonuses for senior executives, and referred the entire matter to the IG. McDonough at least understands a basic principle of crisis management: Get all the facts out, no matter how bad, as soon as possible, because trying to sugarcoat or cover up the problem will only make things worse.<\/p>\n<p>According to the secretary, the VA has adopted all of the IG\u2019s recommendations and recouped over 92 percent of the bonuses already disbursed. That repayment has not come without grumbling, however; one executive told the IG that colleagues are complaining because \u201cpeople did all types of things to better their lives\u201d with the money and don\u2019t have the cash to pay it back. Taxpayers, including this one, would argue they never should have gotten the money to begin with.<\/p>\n<p>But the true test of accountability will come in the extent to which senior staff \u2014 both career executives and political appointees under the secretary \u2014 are held responsible through personnel actions, including dismissal. McDonough has thus far done an admirable job in cleaning up the mess VA created, but ensuring this type of scandal never recurs also involves getting rid of the people who put lining their own pockets over serving the public good.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-15eea1211c3e06f1222f642bb4cb7f83 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-15eea1211c3e06f1222f642bb4cb7f83\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s uncommon for me to praise a government official, especially from the Biden administration. However, one Cabinet member did act correctly, albeit to fix an issue caused by his own department&#8217;s mismanagement and corruption. A recent House Veterans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2270183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/240318-ES192-1178-1.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2270182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/240318-ES192-1178-1.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270182","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\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2270182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2270183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2270182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2270182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2270182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}