House committee launches probe into National Guard bonuses

The House Oversight Committee is launching a probe into the Pentagon’s attempt to recoup bonuses that were overpaid to National Guard soldiers a decade ago.

{mosads}“The committee is seeking information about this serious matter, and to see that officials who mismanaged bonus programs are held accountable,” Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Reps. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), Steve Russell (R-Okla.), Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) wrote in a letter.

The letter was sent to Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Adjutant Gen. David Baldwin of the California National Guard.

At issue are millions of dollars in bonuses paid by military recruiters to thousands of soldiers in 2006 and 2007. The payments were designed to help the military meet enlistment goals amid the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but federal investigators found they they were paid too broadly in a number of states, particularly in California, and the Pentagon is now demanding roughly $20 million in repayments.

The Pentagon has said soldiers can apply for debt waivers on an individual basis and that it is looking at way to help soldiers through that process.

The issue has sparked bipartisan outrage since the Los Angeles Times first reported it over the weekend.

The Times followed up Monday with a report saying the California National Guard told the state’s congressional delegation about the issue two years ago, but that Congress took no action.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) denied Congress had any prior knowledge of the issue.

“That is outrageous,” McCarthy said Tuesday in an interview on Fox News. “Never did I hear this come up. This is outrageous going forward. I cannot imagine anyone who knew about this in the House that would not have acted upon this.”

For its investigation, the Oversight Committee is requesting a slew of documents, including all audits of overpayments by the California National Guard, documents relating to current and past attempts to reclaim the money and documents on the process soldiers can use to appeal the repayment orders.

The committee also wants documents on all amount deemed improperly paid, amounts that have since been collected and the status of collection efforts. And it requested information on the success rate of appeals, any consideration of alternatives to seeking repayments and any review of the repayment program.

The committee asked for all documents by Nov. 7.

In a series of tweets Tuesday, Lengyel said the National Guard is “looking very closing at this matter.”

“#NationalGuard working with @USArmy @DeptofDefense & @theCaGuard to resolve in a way respecting both Soldiers & our duty to taxpayers,” he wrote.