Congressman Flood Introduces BONUS Transparency Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Congressman Mike Flood, joined by House Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Committee Chairman Mike Bost (IL-12), Congressman Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06), Congressman Adrian Smith (NE-03), and Congressman Derrick Van Orden (WI-03), introduced the “BONUS Transparency Act.” This bill enhances communication transparency in bonus pay to Career Senior Executive Service (SES) employees across federal agencies.
“The VA’s inappropriate awarding of nearly $11 million to SES employees must be addressed,” said Congressman Flood. “What makes this situation even worse is that the public only became aware of this misuse of funds because of the VA’s Inspector General. This cannot happen again, which is why I’ve introduced the BONUS Transparency Act. Congress has the obligation and authority to oversee how taxpayer funds are used by federal agencies. This bill promotes transparency—and, in turn, accountability—across our federal government, ensuring these funds are not abused for personal gain by Washington bureaucrats in the future.”
“After the Biden-Harris administration tried to line the pockets of its senior VA executives during the bonus scandal earlier this year, we need my friend Rep. Flood’s bill. The BONUS Transparency Act would ensure that this type of government waste never happens again. My Committee’s investigation over the summer revealed that too often bureaucrats are getting ahead of their skis and money doesn’t go to the right people – those who had actually earned it,” said Chairman Bost. “This commonsense bill would increase transparency and accountability throughout the federal government overnight.”
"Senior officials at federal agencies are meant to serve the American people, not to enrich themselves,” said Congressman Ciscomani. “As we learned from our recent oversight of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, where $10.8 million in bonuses were inappropriately awarded, executive level staff must be held accountable and use taxpayer dollars to serve those who rely on federal agencies, like our veterans. I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of the BONUS Transparency Act to protect tax-payer dollars and ensure compliance with bonus caps.”
“Oversight on the use of taxpayer dollars is not optional – it is a necessity. If this magnitude of financial misconduct can occur at the Veterans Administration, it can happen at any other federal agency, and that will not be tolerated. The BONUS Transparency Act will draw a clear line to ensure that federal agencies are held to the highest standard and any misuse of funds is fully exposed” said Congressman Van Orden.
The legislation follows a recent report by the VA’s Inspector General, which revealed that funds allocated by Congress for recruitment and retention of VA employees that assist in processing veterans’ benefits claims, were instead used to award bonuses to SES employees. These award bonuses averaged $55,000 per bonus, with multiple bonuses exceeding $100,000.
The “BONUS Transparency Act” requires that all bonuses awarded to SES employees must be reported to Congress, including the employee’s name, job title, and annual rate of pay. Additionally, federal agencies must disclose the accounts from which the performance awards were funded.
Currently, no federal requirement exists for SES employee bonuses to be reported to Congress. While federal law generally caps bonuses at 20% of an SES employee’s basic annual pay, the VA Inspector General’s report revealed that several of these bonuses were closer to 25% of basic pay.
The full text of the legislation can be found here.