California lawmakers from both sides of the aisle piled on the Pentagon after reports it is forcing service members to repay enlistment bonuses improperly paid to thousands of National Guard soldiers a decade ago.
(FOX)- The Defense Department ordered as many as 10,500 former National Guardsmen from California to pay back enlistment bonuses totaling as much as $20 million, or $15,000, according to The Los Angeles Times. The bonuses were paid to entice more people to enlist during the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a 2013 Inspector General’s report deemed some excessive.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy called the Pentagon demands “disgraceful.” McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, said the House will demand answers from the National Guard Bureau, the Pentagon agency that oversees the California branch of the Guard.
McCarthy was joined in outrage by fellow Golden State Republican congressmen Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter, and Mark Takano, a Democrat.
“I find it hard to believe either you or your leadership team was aware that such a boneheaded decision was made to demand repayment,” Hunter wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in which he asked Carter to put his weight behind a quick remedy.
Takano called it “ridiculous,” and said Congress is prepared to act.
“These service members — many of whom were sent into combat — are now being forced to make difficult and painful decisions to pay back thousands of dollars they never knew they owed,” said Takano said, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. “The solution to this ridiculous situation is an act of Congress.”
Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said those who have been told to repay their bonuses can appeal the order.