House panel to hold hearing on National Guard bonus clawbacks

Congress has scheduled its first hearing on the Pentagon’s clawbacks of bonuses for thousands of California National Guard soldiers for December, sources told The Hill.

The House Armed Services Committee is planning to hold the hearing on Dec. 7, according to a committee aide. The head of the California National Guard, Army Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, will testify.  

{mosads}A Los Angeles Times report last month revealed that almost 10,000 California National Guard soldiers who were erroneously paid reenlistment bonuses and other incentives nearly a decade ago were now being asked for the money back. 

California National Guard officials say those soldiers were ineligible for the bonuses. However, Pentagon officials say only 1,100 of the cases involve service members who should have known they were ineligible. The rest may have accepted the bonuses not knowing they were ineligible. 

Still, the Times report said they were being aggressively targeted by debt collectors and threatened with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens. 

The report caused an uproar in Congress, with dozens of lawmakers furious over the bonus clawbacks and pledging to introduce legislation to fix the issue for those who accepted the bonuses in good faith.

House and Senate lawmakers introduced legislation this week, led by California Democrats Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer in the Senate and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in the House. 

Under the bills introduced Thursday, recoupment would be waived for anyone who unknowingly received erroneous bonuses. The Army would also have to reimburse any soldier who has already repaid the government, including interest, and notify credit agencies that any debt previously reported was invalid.

The Senate bill was co-sponsored by 15 other Senate Democrats. The House bill was co-sponsored by 27 other lawmakers, including three Republicans.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has suspended all clawback efforts and appointed his under secretary of defense for personnel to develop a process to adjudicate every claim by July 1, but much is unclear. 

National Guard Bureau officials say that there are cases in every state where bonuses were mistakenly paid to service members but have so far not divulged what that number is. 

The hearing could get ugly, with National Guard Bureau officials maintaining that they informed Congress about the clawbacks at least two years ago. 

Officials told The Hill they first informed professional staff members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee of improper bonus payments in 2010.