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The Pentagon recently asked nearly 10,000 soldiers to repay excessive bonuses they were given for re-enlisting in the California National Guard between 2007 and 2009 amid the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress was notified of the problem in 2014, but representatives failed to pass a provision that would allow the Defense Secretary to waive the repayments.
Some representatives claim that the California National Guard failed to convey the scale of the repayments issue or make it a congressional priority. An outraged and bipartisan group of legislators have called for quick action and full forgiveness of the overpayments (estimated to be around $70 million). On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and President Obama have promised to resolve the issue, even as officials acknowledge that the issue may extend to other states:
President Obama has told the Defense Department to expedite its review of nearly 10,000 California National Guard soldiers who have been ordered to repay enlistment bonuses improperly given a decade ago, but he is not backing growing calls for Congress to waive the debts, the White House said Tuesday. The comments by White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggest the administration is running into legal and policy roadblocks as it struggles to handle a public relations headache for the Pentagon, the National Guard and members of Congress who were caught off guard by the scope of the problem.
[...] California Guard officials say they informed California lawmakers about the scale of the debts in 2014, telling them in a list of legislative priorities sent to each House office and the House Armed Services Committee that "thousands of soldiers have inadvertently incurred debt, through no fault of their own because of faulty Army recruiting or accounting practices."
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday October 27 2016, @04:55PM
None of those things happened. I'll correct one as an example. You are offered $50k with a $5k signing bonus. You accept and sign on the dotted line and are cut a check for $55k. You work your full term in good faith and move on. Ten years later, they come to you and say "on second thought, we only want to pay you $1k signing bonus. Please repay us the extra $4k promptly. or we'll tear it from your hide!".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 27 2016, @05:17PM
Your example is much much worse. "They" didn't change their minds years later and decided ex post facto to reduce the original signing bonus, "they" realized years later that they paid them more than they were supposed to, just as the AC's examples were about.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday October 27 2016, @11:48PM
No, "they" realized that they offered the soldiers more than they intended to. But nevertheless, it was an offer that was made and accepted.