{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://flood.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-flood-introduces-bonus-transparency-act", "Congressman Flood Introduces BONUS Transparency Act", "2024-12-06", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Mike Flood", "F000474", "flood.house.gov", "flood", "https://flood.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Congressman Mike Flood, joined by House Veterans\u2019 Affairs (VA) Committee Chairman Mike Bost (IL-12), Congressman Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06), Congressman Adrian Smith (NE-03), and Congressman Derrick Van Orden (WI-03), introduced the \u201cBONUS Transparency Act.\u201d This bill enhances communication transparency in bonus pay to Career Senior Executive Service (SES) employees across federal agencies.\n\n\u201cThe VA\u2019s inappropriate awarding of nearly $11 million to SES employees must be addressed,\u201d said Congressman Flood. \u201cWhat makes this situation even worse is that the public only became aware of this misuse of funds because of the VA\u2019s Inspector General. This cannot happen again, which is why I\u2019ve 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\u2014and, in turn, accountability\u2014across our federal government, ensuring these funds are not abused for personal gain by Washington bureaucrats in the future.\u201d\n\n\u201cAfter 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\u2019s bill. The BONUS Transparency Act would ensure that this type of government waste never happens again. My Committee\u2019s investigation over the summer revealed that too often bureaucrats are getting ahead of their skis and money doesn\u2019t go to the right people \u2013 those who had actually earned it,\u201d said Chairman Bost. \u201cThis commonsense bill would increase transparency and accountability throughout the federal government overnight.\u201d\n\n\"Senior officials at federal agencies are meant to serve the American people, not to enrich themselves,\u201d said Congressman Ciscomani. \u201cAs we learned from our recent oversight of the Department of Veterans\u2019 Affairs, where $10.8 million in bonuses were inappropriately awarded, executive level staff must be held accountable and use taxpayer dollars to serve those who rely on federal agencies, like our veterans. I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of the BONUS Transparency Act to protect tax-payer dollars and ensure compliance with bonus caps.\u201d\n\n\u201cOversight on the use of taxpayer dollars is not optional \u2013 it is a necessity. 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\u201d said Congressman Van Orden.\n\nThe legislation follows a recent report by the VA\u2019s Inspector General, which revealed that funds allocated by Congress for recruitment and retention of VA employees that assist in processing veterans\u2019 benefits claims, were instead used to award bonuses to SES employees. These award bonuses averaged $55,000 per bonus, with multiple bonuses exceeding $100,000.\n\nThe \u201cBONUS Transparency Act\u201d requires that all bonuses awarded to SES employees must be reported to Congress, including the employee\u2019s name, job title, and annual rate of pay. Additionally, federal agencies must disclose the accounts from which the performance awards were funded.\n\nCurrently, no federal requirement exists for SES employee bonuses to be reported to Congress. While federal law generally caps bonuses at 20% of an SES employee\u2019s basic annual pay, the VA Inspector General\u2019s report revealed that several of these bonuses were closer to 25% of basic pay.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T22:13:55Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://flood.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-flood-introduces-bonus-transparency-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9893528185784817, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}