The Stop GREED Act of 2025 (S. 396) would place new limits on the use of critical skill incentives for Senior Executive Service (SES) employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), specifically targeting those serving in Central Office positions (including the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration). The bill would prohibit providing a critical skill incentive to VA SES employees in Central Office, regardless of where they perform their duties, and would create a framework for exceptions and partial incentives for certain other SES employees. It also requires annual reporting to Congress on any such incentives. The overall aim is to curb what proponents view as overgenerous pay incentives for senior VA executives and to increase transparency around incentive use. In practice, the bill would: - bar most critical skill incentives for VA SES employees at Central Office (VHA, VBA, NCA), regardless of location, - allow limited, individually granted incentives for SES staff not described in the prohibition, but only with explicit approvals from high-level VA officials, - permit prorated incentives for SES employees who work primarily at Central Office but spend time at non-Central Office facilities, only for the portion spent at those non-Central Office facilities, - require an annual report to Congress detailing which VA SES staff received incentives, starting within one year of enactment and continuing annually.
Key Points
- 1Prohibition: A critical skill incentive may not be provided to VA SES employees in Central Office (including VHA, VBA, and NCA), regardless of where the functions are performed.
- 2Exceptions (individual basis): For VA SES employees not described in the Central Office prohibition, incentives may be provided only on an individual basis and with prior approval from listed senior VA officials (e.g., Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries for HR/Administration, CFO, General Counsel, and others the Secretary designates).
- 3Partial/ prorated incentives: For SES employees whose functions are primarily Central Office but include time at non-Central Office facilities, incentives for the non-Central Office portion must be proportionate to the time spent there; the portion at Central Office would fall under the prohibition.
- 4Annual reporting: The Secretary must submit an annual report to the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees detailing VA SES employees who received a critical skill incentive, beginning within one year of enactment and annually thereafter.
- 5Definitions: The bill uses the existing definition of a “Senior Executive Service position” as in 5 U.S.C. 3132(a).