The 2027 MILCON-VA Act provides $157 billion in “discretionary allocations,” which is nearly $4 billion higher than 2026. It authorizes $323.9 billion for mandatory spending programs. (Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — The House passed a $480 billion spending package for fiscal 2027 that will fund the Department of Veterans Affairs plus major infrastructure projects supporting military families.
The legislation fully funds veterans health coverage and benefits, invests $2 billion to renovate hospitals and cemeteries, and bans the VA from removing a veteran’s gun rights without first obtaining a court order.
The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Act, known as MILCON-VA, is the first appropriations package that the House adopted for fiscal 2027 and is the VA’s primary spending bill.
The House adopted the MILCON-VA bill late Friday on a vote of 400-15. All “no” votes were from Democratic lawmakers.
“As the first appropriations measure to pass the House, this legislation reaffirms a funding process grounded in responsibility, readiness, and results,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
“As the first appropriations measure to pass the House, this legislation reaffirms a funding process grounded in responsibility, readiness, and results,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., after the House adopted the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Act for fiscal 2027 on a vote of 400-15. Cole is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
The spending package also advances funding for the Toxic Exposures Fund under the PACT Act, which provides health coverage for veterans who became ill after exposure to hazardous materials during military service, including from burn pits, radiation, and industrial solvents.
The bill provides more than $157 billion in “discretionary allocations,” which is nearly $4 billion higher than fiscal 2026. It authorizes $323.9 billion for mandatory programs, according to a written statement from the House Appropriations Committee.
Other veterans-related operations funded by MILCON-VA span the American Battle Monuments Commission, Arlington National Cemetery, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the Armed Forces Retirement Home.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said the final spending plan avoided the “painful, broad cuts” that Democrats opposed.
“Overall, this bill reflects an increasingly rare, across-the-aisle delivery of critical health care, services and housing our veterans and service members deserve,” said Wasserman Schultz, who is the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies.
House Democrats also said they successfully amended an earlier draft version of bill to withhold 25% of VA Secretary Doug Collins’ office budget until he testifies before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
“Following the passage of this amendment, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins agreed to testify before the House Appropriations Committee,” House Democrats said in a written statement.
The MILCON-VA package includes language that ends a VA practice to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation to remove the gun rights of veterans who have had fiduciaries appointed to manage their benefits.
An amendment requires the VA to first obtain a court order before contacting the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System to stop a veteran from buying or owning firearms.
The spending bill also prohibits the closure of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba, and the use of military construction funds to build facilities for detainees on U.S. soil.
The 15 Democrats who opposed the bill argued in part that it continues to support privatizing veterans heath care by covering billions of dollars in coverage at private clinics and hospitals outside the VA system.
Many of the Democrats also objected to the VA’s recent rollback of abortion services for veterans.
The following Democratic lawmakers voted against the MILCON-VA package: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ritchie Torres (N.Y.); Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minn.); Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.); Reps. Ayanna Pressley and James McGovern (Mass.); Reps. Mark Takano, Doris Matsui and Jimmy Gomez (Calif.); Rep. Yassamin Ansari (Ariz.); Rep. Maxine Dexter (Ore.); Rep. Maxwell Frost (Fla.); Rep. Hank Johnson (Ga.); Rep. Summer Lee (Penn.); and Rep. Delia Ramirez (Ill.).
