Rep. Mike Bost, R.-Ill., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, oversaw a mark-up session on Feb. 12, 2026, to hear amendments on several pieces of legislation before the bills were forwarded to the full House for a vote. Bost spoke in support of the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, that he and Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., led as the primary sponsors. (Screenshot from video of hearing)
WASHINGTON — A House bill with broad support for increasing benefits to a half-million severely disabled veterans and widowed spouses of service members who died in the line of duty was nearly sidelined in committee when Democrats insisted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement cover the cost.
The Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act narrowly advanced out of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Thursday after an angry debate ensued over whether the projected $5 billion cost should be paid from the ICE operations budget.
The bill, led by Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., and Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., the committee chairman, was adopted on a 13-10 vote, and forwarded to the full House for approval.
Prior to the vote, Rep. Mark Takano, of California, the top Democrat on the committee, said he could not support a plan to cover the increase through higher refinancing fees on some VA home loans.
“Veterans will always step up, but it’s time for Congress to step up. We should never ask veterans to pay for the benefits of other veterans and their survivors,” Takano said.
Rep. Kelly Morrison, D-Minn., proposed during a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee session on Feb. 12, 2026, diverting dollars from the Department of Homeland Security to pay for higher compensation for catastrophically disabled veterans and the spouses of veterans who died while on duty, as an alternative to increasing refinancing fees on some VA home loans. (Screenshot from video of hearing)
Rep. Kelly Morrison, D-Minn., then proposed diverting dollars from ICE operations, funded through the Department of Homeland Security, to cover the higher compensation for catastrophically disabled veterans and the spouses of veterans who died while on duty.
Morrison, a physician serving the greater Minneapolis area, accused ICE of using taxpayer dollars “to terrorize our neighbors and sow chaos in our streets.”
She referenced the recent fatal shootings by federal agents of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, a VA critical care nurse.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which directs ICE, is under scrutiny by Congress in the wake of the Minneapolis shootings in separate incidents last month. A federal investigation is underway.
But President Donald Trump and Republican leaders have opposed some DHS reforms proposed by Democrats pushing for more state and local government authority in investigating alleged abuses by immigration enforcement agents.
That disagreement spilled into the three-hour markup session Thursday of the House VA Committee. The committee’s perfunctory final review of the Briley Act and other legislation shifted to a debate over actions and spending by DHS.
Bost accused Morrison of “playing politics” and putting the legislation at risk.
He argued that her funding amendment was beyond the committee’s scope and jurisdiction — and would stop the bill from moving to a full House vote.
“This is unrealistic and ridiculous and keeps this good bill from moving forward,” Bost said.
The Briley Act would provide the first increase in more than 30 years to compensation for catastrophically disabled veterans and the widowed spouses of service members who died in the line of duty.
The bill would impose higher refinancing fees on certain VA home loans to cover the higher costs. Updated language in the bill would hike the VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan funding fee from .5% to 1.4%.
The proposal the committee reviewed Thursday was revised to avoid raising fees on purchase loans, instead only raising fees on refinances.
Several Democrats on the committee supported Morrison’s amendment.
“This Congress provided ICE with a $30 billion slush fund to continue terrorizing our communities, while nickel-and-dining our veterans,” Takano said.
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., urged the committee “to cut and claw back DHS funding. Our constituents are demanding that we get our priorities straight.”
But Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., intervened and said he must have walked into the wrong committee room.
The veterans legislation under review “has nothing to do with DHS or ICE,” said Van Orden, who rebuked Democrats for using the forum to push unrelated agendas.
“We are dragging in issues that are very serious. To see American citizens killed is a tragedy across the board,” said Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL.
“But this is for a different group of people to focus on and work on that problem set. This committee’s responsibility is to take care of our veterans,” Van Orden said.
