House House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., left, makes remarks during a hearing on May 19, 2026, in Washington, as Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., looks on. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Two Republican-led veterans bills will advance to the House for a full vote following a contentious House Rules Committee hearing Tuesday that debated increasing benefits for severely injured veterans and stopping the Department of Veterans Affairs from removing a veteran’s gun rights without a court order.
Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., who chairs the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, spoke in support of the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act and the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act.
“Simply put, these are great bills to increase benefits for veterans and their families, expand economic opportunity and protect veterans’ constitutional due process rights,” Bost told the committee during a lengthy discussion on the merits of both pieces of legislation.
But Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House VA Committee, objected to both bills, arguing that the committee should consider Democrat-led alternatives and amendments.
The House Rules Committee — which has a majority of Republican members — voted 7-3 along party lines to support both bills as submitted by the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and led by Bost.
The Sharri Briley Act would increase benefits by $10,000 yearly for veterans suffering catastrophic injuries and life-threatening diseases connected to their military service.
It also would increase benefits by 1.5% over two years for the widowed spouses and other eligible relatives of service members killed in the line of duty or who died from their injuries.
The Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act would end a long-running VA practice of removing the gun rights of veterans who are assigned a fiduciary by the VA when it is determined they cannot manage their financial benefits without help.
A House Rules Committee vote establishes the terms and conditions for debate on a pending bill prior to a House vote.
The committee rejected a Democrat-led amendment to delete the funding mechanism for the Sharri Briley Act, which would cover the costs of higher benefits by raising the fees levied on homeowners who are refinancing VA-backed loans.
“Jacking up fees is not the answer. There’s got to be a better way to do this,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the committee.
But the committee defeated another Democrat-led amendment that would cover the costs of the Sharri Briley Act by reducing the estate tax exemption.
“Everyone agrees that we should increase veterans’ benefits. What we don’t agree on is the idea that you are going to take away from other veterans at the same time to pay for it. … Republicans are willing to pay for a ballroom without any offset,” said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M.
Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., delivers remarks during a House Rules committee hearing on May 19, 2026, in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the Rules Committee chairwoman, described the Sharri Briley Act as “sorely needed” by veterans permanently disabled and requiring round-the-clock care due to their service-connected injuries and illnesses.
Bost said the legislation will benefit hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families, “filling crucial gaps in VA benefits” that have not changed in decades.
The committee also rejected an amendment to the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act that would keep the VA policy of removing veterans’ gun rights but under limited circumstances, including when a VA doctor determines the veteran has dementia, schizophrenia or another serious mental condition.
Takano argued that the policy should stay in place and that Republican support for the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act is “a cynical and dangerous position” that will impact vulnerable veterans.
“This bill is purely about the politics of guns,” Takano said.
But Bost countered that the legislation will overturn a VA policy that persisted for decades of bypassing due process to remove the gun ownership rights of veterans who “could not balance their checkbooks.”
