PASSED: Sen. Moran’s Legislation to Prohibit VA Senior Executives from Exploiting PACT Act Bonuses

WASHINGTON
– The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs – to prohibit
PACT Act
Critical Skill Incentive (CSI) payments from going to Senior Executive Service employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office (VACO) in Washington, D.C. Sen. Moran’s legislation was passed as part of S.423, the
Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act.
“Under the previous administration, VA leadership used the
PACT Act's
critical skill payments to boost the salaries of senior executives in Washington,” said Sen. Moran. “This abuse of taxpayer dollars led to the introduction of my bill, the
Stop GREED Act,
which will make certain these resources are used to support the workforce that directly serves our nation’s veterans. This legislation will also provide greater transparency on how the VA is spending taxpayer dollars to help prevent further abuse of taxpayer dollars. I appreciate the House passing this legislation and look forward to it becoming law."
Sen. Moran introduced S.396, the
Stop Government Rewards Enriching Executives in the District – or Stop GREED –
Act
with Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) after the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that in 2023, VA’s Under Secretaries for Health and Benefits improperly awarded $10.8 million in
PACT Act
CSI payments to VACO’s senior executives rather than rank-and-file employees across the country as Congress had intended.
The underlying legislation, the
Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act of 2025 –
or
PRO Veterans Act –
introduced by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) – will require quarterly budget reporting to Congress after the department, in 2024, failed to disclose a multibillion-dollar shortfall to Congress in a timely manner. The bill also includes provisions from S.264, the
Improving Veterans’ Experience Act of 2025
, which was introduced by Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) to formally authorize VA’s Veterans Experience Office.
The full text of the legislation can be found
here
.
# # #