The US government has absolutely no right - no right - to reclaim a contractually promised compensation payment from a private business to a private citizen.
Period. End of story.
If they get away with confiscating these bonuses, we will witness another step towards totalitarianism in America.
Well, not entirely. You can’t make an enforceable contract to sell yourself into slavery or order a hit on your ex-wife. I could see a court harrumphing about the bonuses being “against public policy” as they overturn them. However, that is a matter for a court and not the prerogative of the executive or legislative branches, if the rule of law is to survive.