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Associated Press | May 03, 2007
WASHINGTON - Months after a politically embarrassing $1 billion shortfall th=
at put veterans' health care in peril, Veterans Affairs officials involved i=
n the foul-up got hefty bonuses ranging up to $33,000.=20
The list of bonuses to senior career officials at the Veterans Affairs Depar=
tment in 2006, obtained by The Associated Press, documents a generous packag=
e of more than $3.8 million in payments by a financially strapped agency str=
aining to help care for thousands of injured veterans returning home from Ir=
aq and Afghanistan.=20
Among those receiving payments were a deputy assistant secretary and several=
regional directors who crafted the VA's flawed budget for 2005 based on mis=
leading accounting. They received performance payments up to $33,000 each, a=
figure equal to about 20 percent of their annual salaries.=20
Also receiving a top bonus was the deputy undersecretary for benefits, who h=
elps manage a disability claims system that has a backlog of cases and delay=
s averaging 177 days in getting benefits to injured veterans.=20
The bonuses were awarded even after government investigators had determined=20=
the VA repeatedly miscalculated - if not deliberately misled taxpayers - wit=
h questionable methods used to justify Bush administration cuts to health ca=
re amid a burgeoning Iraq war.=20
Annual bonuses to senior VA officials now average more than $16,000 - the mo=
st lucrative in government.=20
The VA said the payments are necessary to retain hardworking career official=
s.=20
Several watchdog groups questioned the practice. They cited short-staffing a=
nd underfunding at VA clinics that have become particularly evident after re=
cent disclosures of shoddy outpatient treatment of injured troops at Walter=20=
Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.=20
"Hundreds of thousands of our veterans remain homeless every day and hundred=
s of thousands more veterans wait six months or more for VA disability claim=
decisions," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common S=
ense. "The lavish amounts of VA bonus cash would be better spent on a robust=
plan to cut VA red tape."=20
Sen. Daniel Akaka, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said=20=
the payments pointed to an improper "entitlement for the most centrally plac=
ed or well-connected staff."=20
Seeking an explanation from Secretary Jim Nicholson, Akaka also asked the de=
partment to outline steps to address disparities in which Washington-based s=
enior officials got higher payments than their counterparts elsewhere. "Awa=
rds should be determined according to performance," said Akaka, D-Hawaii. "I=
am concerned by this generous pat on the back for those who failed to ensur=
e that their budget requests accurately reflected VA's needs."=20
A VA spokesman, Matt Burns, said the department was reviewing Akaka's reques=
t. Burns contended that many of the senior officials had been with the depar=
tment for years, with an expertise that could not be replicated immediately=20=
if they were to leave for the more profitable private sector.=20
"Rewarding knowledgeable and professional career public servants is entirely=
appropriate," he said. "The importance of retaining committed career leader=
s in any government organization cannot be overstated."=20
In 2006, the VA officials receiving top bonuses included Rita Reed, the depu=
ty assistant secretary for budget, and William Feeley, a former VA network d=
irector who is now deputy undersecretary for health for operations and manag=
ement.=20
Also receiving $33,000 was Ronald Aument, the deputy undersecretary for bene=
fits, who helps oversee the strained and backlogged claims system that Nicho=
lson now says is unacceptable.=20
The bonuses are determined by the heads of the VA's various divisions, based=
in part on performance evaluations. All requests are submitted to Nicholson=
for final approval.=20
In July 2005, the VA stunned Congress by suddenly announcing it faced a $1 b=
illion shortfall after failing to take into account the additional cost of c=
aring for veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.=20
The admission, months after the department insisted it was operating within=20=
its means and did not need additional money, drew harsh criticism from both=20=
parties and some calls for Nicholson's resignation.=20
The investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, det=
ermined the VA had used misleading accounting methods and claimed false savi=
ngs of more than $1.3 billion, apparently because President Bush was not wil=
ling, at the time, to ask Congress for more money.=20
According to the White House Office of Personnel Management, roughly three o=
f every four senior officials at the VA have received some kind of bonus eac=
h year. In recent years, the payment amount has steadily increased from bein=
g one of the lowest in government - $8,120 in 2002 - to the most generous -=20=
$16,713 in 2005.=20
In contrast, just over half the senior officials at the Energy Department in=
2005 received an average bonus of $9,064. Across all government agencies, a=
bout two-thirds of employees received bonuses, which averaged $13,814 in 200=
5, the most recent data available.=20
Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said the VA bonus=
es appeared to reflect a trend in government where performance bonuses were=20=
increasingly used to reward loyal associates and longtime employees.=20
Put in place shortly after the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act, executive bonu=
ses were designed to increase accountability in government by tying raises m=
ore closely to performance. But while bonuses can help retain key employees,=
damage can be done when payments turn into an automatic handout regardless=20=
of performance, Ellis said. "Simply put, people who nearly shortchanged our=
veterans shouldn't get a bonus check at the end of the year," he said.
=20
Joe Davis, spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, one of the nation's large=
st veterans groups, agreed. His organization is awaiting Nicholson's explana=
tion, saying that the budget shortfall was partly to blame for backlogs and=20=
other problems today. "No one joins the government to get rich, and the bon=
us may be used as a retention tool to keep the best and the brightest, but i=
t must be performance-based in award to be fair and impartial," Davis said.=20=
"Anything else could be viewed as favoritism."
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