Ryan urges Pentagon to suspend collection of Guard bonuses

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday called for the Pentagon to immediately suspend efforts to recover enlistment bonuses paid to thousands of soldiers in California, even as the Pentagon said late Tuesday the number of soldiers affected was smaller than first believed.

“When those Californians answered the call to duty” to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, “they earned more from us than bureaucratic bungling and false promises,” Ryan said. He urged the Pentagon to suspend collection efforts until “Congress has time … to protect service members from lifelong liability for DOD’s mistakes.”

Ryan’s comments came as the White House said President Barack Obama has warned the Defense Department not to “nickel and dime” service members who were victims of fraud by overzealous recruiters.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday he did not believe Obama would support a blanket waiver of repayments, but said California National Guard members should not be held responsible for “unethical conduct or fraud perpetrated by someone else.”

The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend that the Pentagon has demanded that some soldiers repay their enlistment bonuses after audits revealed overpayments by the California National Guard. Recruiters under pressure to fill ranks and hit enlistment goals at the height of the two wars improperly offered bonuses of $15,000 or more to soldiers who re-enlisted, the newspaper reported.

If soldiers refuse to pay the bonus back, they could face interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens.

The Pentagon said late Tuesday that it instructed at most 6,500 California Guard soldiers to repay the enlistment bonuses. That number is lower than a reported figure that nearly 10,000 soldiers have been told to repay part or all of their bonuses.