Memphis Standard

U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and John Boozman (R-Ark.) have introduced the Stop Government Rewards Enriching Executives in the District (Stop GREED) Act. This legislation aims to prohibit PACT Act recruitment and retention incentive payments from being allocated to Senior Executive Service (SES) employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office (VACO) in Washington, D.C.

"The VA must be held accountable for its egregious mishandling of the critical skill incentives that were included in the PACT Act," said Senator Blackburn. "We must restore integrity and trust within the VA, and the Stop GREED Act would help ensure such a failure does not happen again."

Senator Moran emphasized that these payments were intended to improve recruitment and retention for difficult-to-fill positions across VA, not to increase senior executives' salaries. "The bonuses to executives were a gross misuse of funds, especially in light of the VA’s budget shortfall failure, and we must make certain it does not happen again," he stated.

Senator Boozman added that the PACT Act was designed to expand benefits for veterans living with toxic exposure-related illnesses due to their service. "This legislation will ensure funds will be used to support the needs of veterans, not VA executives," he remarked.

The introduction of this bill follows a report by the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG), which found that $10.8 million in PACT Act recruitment and retention incentive payments had been improperly approved for VACO’s senior executives instead of rank-and-file employees nationwide.

Additionally, this move comes after an announcement by the VA regarding a budgetary shortfall of $3 billion for FY2024 and nearly $12 billion for FY2025. This shortfall could delay veterans' benefits unless Congress acts by September 20. Despite this financial mismanagement, VACO senior executives involved were still approved for substantial recruitment and retention bonuses.

While efforts are ongoing to recover these improper payments since they became public knowledge, legislative action is deemed necessary to prevent similar occurrences in future.

The full text of the bill is available online.