Senators Demand Return of $10.8 Million in ‘Unjustified’ Bonuses Handed to VA Senior Executives

A group of Republican senators is calling for nearly $11 million in “unjustified” bonuses paid to senior executives within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to be recouped and for those responsible for distributing them to be fired.

The group, led by Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough on May 22 in which they said they are “deeply concerned about mismanagement and accountability failures” within the department.

In their letter, the lawmakers pointed to a recent report by the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG), which found that the VA erroneously awarded millions of dollars in critical skill incentive (CSI) payments to senior executives at its central office. The money was meant to be spent on retaining much-needed skilled workers.

That report, published on May 9, has brought to light the “improper allocation of CSIs to senior executives within the VA,” and “revealed a consistent disregard for statutory requirements and VA policies, resulting in the unjustified distribution of bonuses to executives,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.

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