# HHS shrinks cash awards for top performers, shifting funds to bonuses with less clear criteria

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-federal-drive-with-terry-gerton-504783/hhs-shrinks-cash-awards-for-top-performers-shifting-funds-to-bonuses-with-less-clear-criteria
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-federal-drive-with-terry-gerton-504783/hhs-shrinks-cash-awards-for-top-performers-shifting-funds-to-bonuses-with-less-clear-criteria.md
Podcast: [The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-federal-drive-with-terry-gerton-504783)
Published: 2026-05-26T11:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://mgln.ai/e/345/rss.art19.com/episodes/bfc26860-eb6e-4c6a-a916-83ae460edb53.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
Audio file: https://mgln.ai/e/345/rss.art19.com/episodes/bfc26860-eb6e-4c6a-a916-83ae460edb53.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
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Duration seconds: 427

## Resource

The Department of Health and Human Services is shrinking cash awards for its top performers. In its place, the department is shifting a majority of its bonus budget to cover “special act” awards with eligibility criteria that are less well-defined. This is all part of a governmentwide push to limit the number of top scores federal employees get on their annual performance reviews. Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman has more.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

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