Ayotte, Fischer, McCaskill Reintroduce Bill to Stop Wasteful Federal Bonuses

Press Release

U.S. Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) today reintroduced the "Stop Wasteful Federal Bonuses Act" - bipartisan legislation that would prohibit bonuses for federal employees who engaged in misconduct, aren't in good standing with their agency, or have violated the law.

The senators' bill comes in the aftermath of a recent IRS Inspector General report revealing that $2.8 million was paid in bonuses between 2010 and 2012 to 2,800 employees with conduct violations - including more than $1 million for over 1,100 IRS employees who were delinquent on their taxes. Some agencies, including the IRS, don't consider conduct problems, including tax compliance, when determining bonuses - highlighting the need for the legislation.

"Taxpayers in New Hampshire and across the nation are alarmed by recent reports of IRS employees being awarded bonuses that they shouldn't have received. Federal employees who haven't paid their taxes or who face disciplinary problems should not be getting bonuses. This bipartisan legislation takes commonsense steps to prevent workers with serious conduct infractions from receiving bonus pay," said Senator Ayotte.

"If we're going to restore Americans' confidence that their federal government is spending money wisely, this legislation is a commonsense step in that direction," Senator McCaskill said. "Using taxpayer dollars to give cash bonuses to employees who've engaged in conduct that could get them fired or sent to jail is outrageous-and this bill would put an end to it."

"Federal employees who have broken the law should not receive bonuses at the expense of hardworking American taxpayers," said Senator Fischer. "Our bill takes meaningful steps to stop this outrageous practice while helping ensure taxpayer dollars are being used more efficiently and effectively."

The "Stop Wasteful Federal Bonuses Act" would prohibit the head of an agency from awarding a bonus to an employee if the agency Inspector General, a senior ethics official of the agency, or the Government Accountability Office makes a determination that the employee's conduct either violated agency policy for which the employee may be fired or suspended, or violated a law for which the employee may be imprisoned for more than 1 year. The bill would maintain the prohibition on bonus pay for 5 years. The bill also includes a mandatory clawback provision so that the employee - after notice and an opportunity for a hearing - must repay the amount of any bonus made during the year in which such an adverse determination was made.

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