Major veterans package edges closer to a House vote

WASHINGTON — Planned cuts to disability compensation for tinnitus and sleep apnea are on a path to be implemented by the Department of Veterans Affairs — with the savings going back to the U.S. Treasury — unless Congress moves swiftly to pass major legislation that would redirect the dollars to pay for new benefits.

Lawmakers and veterans delivered that message Tuesday at a news conference outside the Capitol, as they pressed for passage of the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, which bundles together more than 60 veterans bills.

“We have found a pathway to finally get these benefits and transformations done for the first time in years. It is fiscally responsible to do so,” said Rep. Mike Bost, R.-Ill., the bill’s primary sponsor, who was flanked by lawmakers and veterans waving placards.

A vote on the House floor is expected within days, after the Republican-led Take Care of America’s Veterans advanced from the House Rules Committee late Monday, over the objections of Rep. Jim McGovern, of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the committee.

Support for the massive legislation has largely fallen along party lines, with many Democrats opposing its funding mechanism. The legislation also has divided the nation’s major veterans groups.

McGovern argued that the legislation “pays for veterans benefits today by cutting benefits tomorrow.” He made the same critique Tuesday on the House floor.

McGovern said that the two funding sources for boosting benefits would be paid for by veterans themselves — a reduction in future disability compensation for service-connected tinnitus and sleep apnea and higher upfront fees associated with VA home loan refinancing under the GI Bill.

But Cole T. Lyle, national director of legislative affairs at the American Legion, which has been tracking the legislation’s progress, said the VA has been planning to reduce compensation for sleep apnea and tinnitus disability benefits since 2022.

Lyle warned that unless Congress acts to pass the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, those savings will not be harnessed to offset the costs of legislative priorities for veterans benefits that were previously idled for lack of funds.

“We’re running out of time. The worst-case scenario is we do not get any action. The changes to sleep apnea and tinnitus will go into effect regardless, and we will have lost the opportunity to find under the congressional budget rules a ‘pay for’ that is palatable and feasible,” Lyle said.

“The American Legion sees this as one of the largest and most impactful pieces of legislation to impact the broader veterans community,” said Lyle, who discussed the legislation in-depth on the American Legion podcast “Tango Alpha Lima.”

Bost described the legislation as a “once-in-a-generation” package that will enact long-sought priorities, such as the Major Richard Star Act and the Love Lives On Act, which were idled for lack of funding.

The Major Richard Star Act would allow combat-disabled retirees with fewer than 20 years of service to receive their full Defense Department retirement pay and their Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation without any reduction.

The Love Lives On Act would end a financial penalty imposed on surviving military spouses who remarry before the age of 55. The bill allows them to retain their dependency and indemnity compensation, survivor benefits, and Tricare health coverage.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, offered harsh words Tuesday for Democrats trying to block the legislation.

“Republicans are fighting for veterans,” Foxx said on the House floor. “If Democrats truly cared about veterans, they would support Chairman Bost’s bill and not come up with hack-job solutions that will do nothing to reform the VA.”