The Department of Veterans Affairs is withholding bonuses for the executives who oversee the department's backlogged disability benefits claims processing program, the Associated Press reports:
VA spokesman Josh Taylor said Monday the savings would be used to help reduce the backlog. He didn't provide specifics, nor could he say how many people would be affected or how much the savings would be. The withholdings apply only to executives of the Veterans Benefits Administration, which is part of the VA. [...]
In all, records show the VA paid its senior executives a total of $2.8 million in bonuses in fiscal year 2011. Among the VBA bonuses, three staff members received the top payment of $23,091 each.
The backlog has rapidly grown over the last three years (as has the VA budget). The number of backlogged disability claims grew from fewer than 200,000 to almost 500,000 in fiscal year 2011, according to the AP. A claim is considered backlogged if it has been pending for more than 125 days.
Currently, there are almost 900,000 pending claims before the VA.