An investigation by USA Today into the Veterans Administration finds that the embattled agency delivered $142 million in bonuses to its employees in 2014.
Among the highlights of the investigation were revelations that managers at facilities that were at the center of high-profile scandals got performance-based bonuses of between several hundred and several thousand dollars.
The bonuses paid out to individual VA employees are a pittance compared to the eye-popping sums doled out to executives by taxpayer-rescued Wall Street banks in the midst of the Great Recession, but the symbolic effect of bad public employees being rewarded is bound to have political ramifications.
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It was no doubt in acknowledgment of the public relations pitfalls that former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki suspended bonuses for agency executives in mid-2014. And Republicans on Capitol Hill have been pushing for legislation to target bonuses for VA employees who break the law.
However, rank-and-file VA workers, including high-level managers, have continued to receive bonuses since. According to USA Today, 156,000 VA employees –– nearly half of the massive agency's workforce –– received extra performance pay in 2014.
In a Veterans Day address Wednesday, President Obama emphasized improvements he has sought for the VA, although he insisted the status quo still wasn't good enough.
"We have made historic investments to boost the VA budget, expand benefits, offer more mental health care and improved care for our wounded warriors, especially those with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury," he said, adding that the VA had slashed its disability claims backlog by 90 percent.
On the campaign trail, presidential candidates have sparred over what to do with the VA. After being criticized for downplaying the problems at the VA, Hillary Clinton on Tuesday announced a plan that she said would make it easier to fire incompetent employees and reduce wait times by allowing the agency to contract with private sector providers for certain treatments.
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