WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (Kan.) – ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee – today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) findings that VA improperly awarded $10.8 million dollars in PACT Act Critical Skills Incentive (CSI) payments to senior executives in the VA Central Office:

“This report highlights serious concerns within leadership decision making at the Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans Benefits Administration and demands significant attention from Secretary McDonough and Congress. 

“The critical skills incentive payments that were included in the PACT Act were meant to improve recruitment for difficult-to-fill positions across VA, not to increase the salaries of senior executives. The failings detailed in this report by the Under Secretaries for Health and Benefits raise serious questions about the checks and balances in place within the very top levels of the Department and their ability to manage these agencies that veterans across the country depend on for their health care and benefits. The poor decisions demonstrated in this report reflect many of the systemic issues we continue to see across VHA and VBA.

“Secretary McDonough was correct to quickly recognize this issue and ask the VA Inspector General to complete a full investigation. I look forward to learning what Secretary McDonough is doing to hold those involved accountable to prevent this from happening again.”

The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 authorized VA to provide Critical Skills Incentive (CSI) payments to help VA retain employees with high-demand skills.

The full report by VA OIG can be found here.

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