GovernmentExecutive.com

President Bush recognized 297 federal executives as the elite of the elite Wednesday when he conferred the Presidential Rank Award upon them.

The award fêtes the Senior Executive Service and Senior Level and Scientific and Professional executives in government each year with bonuses upward of $20,000. It is the highest honor in the civil service.

Sixty-three of the winners received the Distinguished Executive award for leadership and accomplishments over an extended time. The honor comes with a lump-sum award amounting to 35 percent of base pay.

The remaining honorees received the Meritorious Executive award, which comes with a bonus equal to 20 percent of base pay.

Linda Springer, director of the Office of Personnel Management, released a statement announcing the winners.

"They have worked hard and have produced results for the American people," Springer said.

Up to 1 percent of the about 8,000 eligible employees can receive the Distinguished Executive award, and 5 percent can receive the Meritorious Executive honor. This year, the winners were employed by 33 agencies and departments.

They were nominated by their agency and then evaluated by a board of private citizens before being approved by the president.

The minimum rate of basic pay for a member of the SES in most agencies is $109,808. That means Distinguished Executives brought home at least a $38,432 award and Meritorious Executives earned a minimum of $21,961.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense was one of the biggest agency winners, with nine Distinguished Executives and 22 Meritorious Executives. NASA had four Distinguished Executives and 24 Meritorious; the Treasury Department had three Distinguished and 22 Meritorious and the Veteran Affairs Administration had two Distinguished and 17 Meritorious.

In the spring, the Senior Executives Association honors Distinguished Executive winners with a swank reception, usually in the State Department's diplomatic reception rooms.

COMMENTS

• Did any of the awardees give credit for the people who worked for them and made the award possible? Now wonder there is not money left for awards to the civilian worker when the SES receive $20-$30K awards. American Taxpayer Posted April 21, 2008 9:47 AM
• What did the director of ICE get an award for -- destroying an agency and lowering the morale of its employees? Or was it for taking away their First Amendment right to free speech, by basically saying that dissention will not be tolerated, and if you don't like it, leave? Or for helping to spread the myth that ICE and the rest of Homeland Security have anything at all to do with fighting terrorism, when they don't, thanks to the FBI and DHS' own feckless "leadership"? Inquiring minds want to know! GovExec.com reader Posted October 20, 2006 4:08 PM
• David, So does that mean that you're also opposed to those individuals in the VA who won awards, after the names of 26 million veterans were released? My point is this: these individuals, some of whom I know personally, cannot be singled out and blamed for the war in Iraq any more than individuals in other organizations can be blamed for the cumulative failures of the whole. Let them enjoy their recognition for goodness sake! Army Logistician Posted October 22, 2006 11:18 AM