WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Veterans Administration (VA) should be legally required to collect the 2011 bonuses that employees obtained though manipulating electronic waitlists, US Congressman Kelly Ayotte said in a statement on Tuesday.
“US Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) this week re-introduced bipartisan legislation that would take back bonuses paid to VA employees who were involved in the manipulation of electronic waitlists,” the statement said.
Once the manipulation was discovered, the ensuing scandal led to the ousting of the then VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
The legislation, according to the statement, will direct the VA secretary Robert McDonald to require employees to repay the 2011 bonuses if they were involved in the electronic waitlists manipulation.
“It’s outrageous that VA employees who deliberately manipulated waitlists received bonus pay at taxpayers’ expense,” Ayotte said, adding that the involved employees must be held fully accountable for their misconduct.
The VA is a United States government agency that provides patient care and federal benefits to war veterans and to their dependents.
