Sens: We understand that Amtrak has been directed to develop an incentive pay program. But incentive pay must be earned based on performance. Image: Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffTop Republicans on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee have questioned Amtrak’s payments of bonuses to top managers and executives despite its “dire financial state.”
The letter says the government-subsidized entity paid bonuses of $75 million in 2023, including 14 worth more than $200,000, even amid a $1.75 billion loss. In the two prior years, 11 and 10 bonuses of that size were paid despite even larger losses, a letter said.
“C-suite executives of any other corporation that suffered over $1 billion in annual losses would be fired. Amtrak, however, is rewarding them. These bonuses are particularly galling because they come at taxpayers’ expense without Amtrak having achieved even satisfactory performance,” they wrote to the agency’s governing board.
“We understand that Amtrak has been directed to develop an incentive pay program. But incentive pay must be earned based on performance. Neither financial performance, customer satisfaction, operational excellence, nor capital project success explains the bonuses,” they added, asking about the standards used in making the payments, whether the operating loss was taken into account, and other details.
The letter comes in the wake of continued scrutiny of the VA’s payments of bonuses to senior executives—including seven above $100,000—out of funds meant to be paid as incentives for high-demand frontline positions.
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