Republican lawmakers take aim at VA bonuses amid staffing cuts

Republican lawmakers are cracking down on Veterans Affairs employee bonuses, even as Democrats in Congress say administration moves in recent months are hurting critical recruiting and retention work.

The conflict is the latest chapter in the ongoing story of VA’s federal workforce, and what it will look like in coming years. After President Joe Biden’s administration heavily emphasized building up the department’s employee base in response to higher demands for health care and benefits, President Donald Trump’s White House has reversed that course, pushing for significant cuts and less aggressive recruiting efforts.

On Monday, the House finalized legislation to prohibit payments from the department’s Critical Skill Incentive programs from being awarded to Senior Executive Service employees, in reaction to improper cash awards handed out during the last presidential administration. The measure is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump in coming days.

Bill sponsor Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas and chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, called the past awards an “abuse of taxpayer dollars” and said the move is needed to ensure integrity and transparency in the department’s bonus programming.

In a related move, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee leaders on Tuesday held a hearing reviewing the department’s recruitment, relocation and retention incentive payment practices, better known as 3R bonuses.

VA leaders awarded about $1.2 billion in those incentives to roughly 134,000 employees from the start of fiscal 2020 to the end of fiscal 2023, according to the VA Inspector General’s office. Officials estimated that about $341 million in bonuses were not properly documented or justified, and about $5 million in awards were improperly handed out to ineligible individuals.

Republican lawmakers said that program is in need of significant reforms too.

“When someone receives a relocation incentive and never actually relocates, that is wrong and a clear waste of taxpayer dollars,” said Rep. Jennifer Kiggans, R-Va., chairwoman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s panel on oversight. “These are taxpayer dollars set aside for veterans, and for far too long they have been carelessly handled.”

Trump administration supporters praised recent efforts to cut waste and inefficiency within the department. Tracey Therit, VA’s chief human capital officer, said the bonus programs are a critical tool in filling in-demand specialties, but also promised continued reforms within the human resources and financial oversight offices to improve bonus decisions.

“We are confident that the steps we have already taken and continue to take will strengthen our incentive program governance and oversight, leading to more effective outcomes and better service to the nation’s veterans,” she said.

But Democratic lawmakers said the work is less focused on efficiency and more focused on shedding government workers through active cuts and passive messaging.

Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., noted that VA leaders awarded recruiting incentives more than 20,000 times in 2024. Halfway through this year, that total is about 7,000. Recruitment incentives were awarded more than 6,000 times in 2024 but have been used about 1,000 times this year.

“It’s not that VA employees are less meritorious than they were [last year],” Ramirez noted. “No matter what VA employees do, they will never receive 3R awards, because the Trump Administration wants them to leave. They want every employee to be pushed out so they can decimate VA’s workforce and destroy it in order to justify privatizing the VA.”

VA officials expect to reduce the department’s workforce by roughly 30,000 employees this fiscal year, a move that has drawn the ire of union leaders and administration critics.

Union officials testified at the hearing that they are already seeing shortfalls in key areas like nursing and appointment scheduling, areas that will hurt veterans benefits.

VA leaders have disputed those assertions in recent months, insisting that cuts to the department bureaucracy can be done without impacting customer service. They said they are continuing to recruit for critical health care and benefits processing posts, and have dismissed concerns from critics regarding perceived emerging gaps in the workforce.

Senate leaders this week are expected to advance their plans for a $435 billion VA budget next fiscal year. The appropriations bill represents an $83 billion boost from Congress’ approved spending plan for VA in fiscal 2025, even with the planned staffing reductions.