WC Wisconsin News

Today, Congressman Derrick Van Orden from Wisconsin's 3rd District introduced the BONUS Transparency Act. The initiative is supported by House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost of Illinois' 12th District, along with Congressmen Juan Ciscomani from Arizona's 6th District and Adrian Smith from Nebraska's 3rd District. This legislation was proposed following a report by the Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General. The report revealed that funds meant for recruiting and retaining VA employees to process veterans' benefits claims were instead used to give bonuses to Senior Executive Service (SES) employees.

The BONUS Transparency Act mandates that all bonuses awarded to SES employees be reported to Congress, including details such as the employee’s name, job title, and annual pay rate. Furthermore, federal agencies are required to disclose which accounts funded these performance awards.

"Oversight on the use of taxpayer dollars is not optional – it is a necessity," stated Congressman Van Orden. "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."

Congressman Flood also commented on the issue: "The VA’s inappropriate awarding of nearly $11 million to SES employees must be addressed. 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."

Chairman Bost added his perspective: "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."

The full text of the legislation can be found here.