Jeff Miller Slams IRS and VA for Employee Bonuses

U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who represents much of the Panhandle in Congress, weighed in on the IRS giving out bonuses to employees despite the current scandals swirling around the agency. Miller sent out a message to constituents last week in which he slammed the IRS:

Despite being embroiled in a massive scandal and facing budgetary cuts as a result of sequestration, recent news reports indicate that the IRS has agreed to pay $70 million in employee bonuses, Miller wrote. The IRS has confirmed targeting of conservative groups and, as investigations underway in the House have already revealed, the IRS malfeasance is not limited to a group of individuals in one IRS field office. We have seen that there is systemic abuse of power by IRS bureaucrats in Washington aimed at individuals and organizations for their political and religious affiliations.

The IRS was expressly directed by the administration to halt all bonuses as a result of sequestration; however, instead of following this directive, the IRS struck a deal with the National Treasury Employees Union to grant bonuses of up to $3,500 to thousands of employees, Miller continued. The IRS did not disclose these planned payments to Congress or the public, and they only came to light days before the bonuses were scheduled to be disbursed.

As the agency responsible for collecting tax revenue, the IRS, above all, should be fully committed to fiscal responsibility, Miller insisted. Yet, when thousands of DoD employees, including many in Northwest Florida, are feeling the brunt of sequestration, thousands of IRS employees will be rewarded with generous bonuses. The IRS has claimed that their bonus payments are required under their collective bargaining agreement with the union; however, as Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who revealed the details of the IRS bonuses, has correctly pointed out, this very agreement allows for the re-appropriation of bonuses in the event of budget shortfalls. I believe it is highly irresponsible for IRS employees to be receiving bonuses given the fiscal climate in Washington and the seriousness of the targeting scandal, and I will work with my colleagues to fully investigate this serious issue.

But the IRS isnt the only federal agency that has a bonus problem, Miller wrote before turning his fire to other federal agencies. Failing VA executives have been collecting huge bonuses for years. A shocking fact that becomes all the more serious when framed in the context of a string of patient deaths linked to mismanagement and the departments inability to break the disability compensation claims backlog, which has more than 550,000 veterans in limbo regarding the status of their claims. Thats why Ive introduced legislation that would ban VA executive bonuses for five years. Until we have complete confidence that VA is holding executives accountable rather than rewarding them for their mistakes, no one should get a performance bonus. Period.