The report showed that members of the government’s highly paid Senior Executive Service — who make up less than 1% of the federal work force — had received more than $340 million in bonuses from 2008 through 2011. The bonuses came on top of annual salaries that ranged from $119,000 to $179,000.

In a process known as sequestration, $85 billion in across-the-board federal spending cuts took effect March 1, forcing the government to slash services and furlough workers. A month later, the Obama administration froze bonuses for the vast majority of federal workers.

But by law, agencies still must pay bonuses to Senior Executive Service employees who meet certain performance criteria, said the report, issued Friday.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., introduced a bill Friday that would eliminate bonuses for members of the Senior Executive Service during sequestration. McCaskill leads the subcommittee on financial and contracting oversight, which produced the report.

“The idea that some of the highest-paid federal government employees could be getting bonuses while others are being furloughed is outrageous,” McCaskill said in a statement. “This legislation will ensure that doesn’t happen.”

Created by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the Senior Executive Service is made up of leaders who serve in key positions just below top presidential appointees, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management website. They oversee the day-to-day activities of about 75 federal agencies.

Friday’s report found that the federal government had handed out more than 6,300 cash awards to members of the Senior Executive Service in 2011, for a total of $78 million. About four out of five Senior Executive Service employees received bonuses that year, the report said.

The agencies that spent the most money on the bonuses were:

■ The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which paid more than $16,000 per employee.

■ The National Science Foundation, $14,000 per employee.

■ The Department of the Navy, $13,000 per employee.

■ The Department of Health and Human Services, $13,000 per employee.

■ The Department of Commerce, $12,000 per employee.

The report singled out the General Services Administration as doling out the most performance awards on average. The agency spent $1.1 million on bonuses in 2011, and each Senior Executive Service employee received an average of 1.6 bonuses, the report said.

The GSA is responsible for acquiring real estate, technology services and other big-ticket items for the federal government.

A GSA spokesman said in an e-mail that the agency had cut executive bonuses by 85% last year and hasn’t paid any such bonuses this year. The agency also cut its Awards Stores program, in which employees could choose prizes such as iPods and digital cameras.

The GSA is the same agency that came under scrutiny in Congress last year for a lavish conference in Las Vegas in 2010 and other such spending of taxpayer dollars, including exorbitant bonuses.