Vote on Take Care of America’s Veterans Act stalls in the House

WASHINGTON — In a dramatic showdown Thursday morning over the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, the massive bill was postponed just prior to a final vote on the House floor.

The Republican-led bill has faced backlash from Democrats and divided veteran groups over a key funding mechanism that reduces disability compensation on future claims for tinnitus and sleep apnea — among the most common service-connected medical conditions.

A last-ditch attempt by Rep. Chris Deluzio, D.-Pa., an Iraq war veteran, to block a vote by sending the bill back to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee failed by one vote.

The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act was pulled after a vote of 211-210 against the measure was announced. No information was immediately available on when the bill might come up for a vote again.

The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, which bundles together more than 60 bills, has been on a fast track in Congress since it was introduced on June 10.

The legislation contains multiple bills with bipartisan support that have not advanced for lack of funding, including the Major Richard Star Act, the Love Lives On Act and the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act.

Rep. Tom Barrett, R.-Mich., a retired helicopter pilot in the Army National Guard, voiced support for the legislation, noting that it includes the Home Affordability for Guard and Reserve Act to enable National Guard members and reservists to qualify for VA home loans much sooner during service. (Screenshot)

Rep. Tom Barrett, R.-Mich., a retired helicopter pilot in the Army National Guard, stood to voice support for the legislation, noting that it includes the Home Affordability for Guard and Reserve Act. Barrett also is a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

The act would enable National Guard members and reservists in good standing to qualify for VA home loans much sooner during service, he said.

Debate on the House floor Thursday was limited to one hour, and the legislation could not be amended, according to procedural rules established earlier in the week by the House Rules Committee.

Rep. Mark Takano, of California, the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, described the proposed funding source for the higher benefits as “the golden egg that has not been laid yet — an estimated $57 billion in savings.”

The legislation would use the estimated savings from a rule change that the Department of Veterans Affairs initiated in 2022 to adjust the disability rating schedule for sleep apnea and tinnitus, according to supporters.

Rep. Mike Bost, R.-Ill., a Marine Corps veteran and the bill’s primary sponsor, argued that the VA will make the reductions regardless of the bill’s outcome.

The compensation changes are part of an ongoing effort to update VA disability ratings that began under the Biden administration and will still be carried out, he said.

This “legislation will not harm a single veteran. If we do not fund it today, the savings will go back to one place — big government,” said Bost, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

“We have to decide whether we keep talking about these promises or actually move a package that can become law,” Bost said. “If you don’t believe this Marine is serious about helping veterans, I will stand and always stand for my veterans. This is best the thing we can do for our veterans now.”

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Ill., called the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act “the golden egg that has not been laid yet,” as he criticized the proposed funding source for the legislation. (Screenshot)

Takano suggested that the sweeping legislation, which is nearly 600 pages long, represents an unprecedented cut to veteran benefits, an assertion made by Disabled American Veterans and several other veterans groups.

“It’s a beautiful day in Washington, D.C., but Republicans are casting a dark cloud over all of us, especially over America’s veterans,” Takano said, after the bill hit the House floor at 9 a.m. for one hour of debate.

Disabled American Veterans stated that the government has never before stripped disability benefits from one group of veterans to pay for benefits to another group.

Takano and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, argued earlier this week that dollars to expand veteran benefits should come from the Big Beautiful Bill Act, a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s second term in office.

“There is nearly $100 billion for the Department of Defense that remains unobligated and unspent from H.R. 1, a law enacted more than a year ago. A small portion of those funds could easily be redirected to cover the human costs of war reflected in the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act,” said Blumenthal and Takano, in reference to the Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The lawmakers also proposed returning the tax rate for the richest Americans to 39.6%, after it was lowered by two points under H.R. 1. “Restoring that rate to 39.6% only for the top 0.1% of all income earners — those making over $25 million — would generate enough revenue to cover the costs of the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act,” the lawmakers said.

House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R.-La., told Punch Bowl News that a vote on the bill is being delayed to correct “a lot of misinformation out there ... We’re gonna delay it just a bit,” Johnson said, according to a comment posted to X.

Passing the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act continues to be “top priority for Chairman Bost, Speaker Johnson and House Republicans,” Bost’s office said.

Veterans groups, meanwhile, engaged in a social media blitz both for and against the legislation.

Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans voiced serious concern about the funding source, arguing that Congress should not ask one generation of veterans to pay for another.

“The good simply DOES NOT outweigh the bad when it comes to the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act,” Disabled American Veterans posted to Facebook on Wednesday, urging members to register their opposition by calling the switchboard at the U.S. Capitol.

But the American Legion warned on its podcast, called “Tango, Alpha, Lima,” that Congress needed to seize the opportunity to pass the mega-bill with its high-priority initiatives for veterans and their families.

“The worst-case scenario is we do not get any action,” said Cole T. Lyle, national director of legislative affairs at the American Legion. “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.”