At VA, Bonuses Meet Head-On With Backlogs and Budgets

Democrats were irked that one of the VA officials who received a top bonus of $33,000 was the deputy undersecretary for benefits, who helps manage the backlogged claims system.

The AP reported yesterday that 21 VA officials who received bonuses also sat on the performance-review boards that recommended such payments. The VA, in a response, said board members are not allowed to make recommendations on one another's bonuses.

Filner said Hall's proposed bill may address the issue of how boards make decisions on bonuses. He said the committee will probably have to learn how other agencies select recipients for bonuses before reaching any conclusions.

The Senate also seems likely to have questions about the VA bonus practices.

Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, wrote Nicholson that the bonuses were not distributed evenly across the department "and that some employees received large bonuses in spite of questionable performance outcomes."

Akaka said his staff's review had found that executives based in Washington received, on average, higher bonuses than their counterparts in other parts of the country.

He said that he was not concerned that VA bonuses to executives are among the highest of any agency but that the bonuses "should not give the appearance of an entitlement for the most centrally placed or well-connected staff."

Nicholson replied that bonuses are based "upon the contributions made by each executive and the relative complexity of his or her assignment." The higher bonuses to VA's central office and health officials "reflect this fact," he said.