The Military Benefits Bill That’s Tearing The Veterans Community Apart

A sweeping veterans benefits measure pitched by Republicans as a boon for tens of thousands of veterans has instead become a divisive wedge for the normally tight-knit military advocacy community — and split the GOP caucus.

The fight over the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, expected to be on the House floor Thursday, threatens to complicate future work on military and veterans reforms, which are frequently viewed as non-controversial political crusades for lawmakers.

Even before hitting the floor, the bill is facing massive problems. A group of House Republicans have been warning GOP leaders they will oppose it, according to five people with direct knowledge of the conversations. And supporters worry that GOP leadership may have to pull the imperiled measure from the floor schedule.

The legislation includes dozens of provisions which have received widespread support from major veterans organizations, including plans to provide bigger monthly payouts to disabled veterans and extend support for military widows and widowers after they remarry. Now, the issues have become a showdown for groups arguing over how future efforts to support veterans and their families should be paid for.

Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), chair of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and sponsor of the measure, held a rally outside the capitol Tuesday to marshal support for the bill, featuring supportive remarks from the American Legion, Wounded Warrior Project, the Tragedy Assistance Program For Survivors and Vietnam Veterans of America.

“All these groups and organizations have worked together on this,” Bost said. “We have discussed it, we have argued, but now it's time to move forward to help veterans.”

The centerpiece of the measure is the Major Richard Star Act, legislation that would increase retirement payouts for around 50,000 combat-injured veterans. A stand-alone version of the proposal has more than 300 co-sponsors in the House and 78 in the Senate, but concerns over the cost — about $13 billion over the next decade — have sidelined the legislation for years.

Bost’s bill would pay for the Star Act and a host of other bipartisan benefits expansions with money to be saved through a change in Veterans Affairs disability ratings.

Under plans which have been in development since before President Donald Trump took office, VA officials are poised next year to limit payouts for new veterans’ disability claims related to tinnitus and sleep apnea. The move is expected to generate roughly $57 billion in savings over the next decade, money that will default to the U.S. Treasury if it’s not assigned to other uses.

But congressional Democrats and veterans groups opposed to the Care Act insist that using savings from some benefits reductions to pay for other veterans’ needs sets a dangerous precedent and represents a violation of the government’s promise to support military members after service.

Disabled American Veterans released a statement Wednesday opposing the idea “that Congress must strip benefits from one group of veterans to ‘pay for’ new benefits for another.” Veterans of Foreign Wars officials wrote in an op-ed last month that disability compensation “should never be treated as a budget offset.”

Those two groups have led an increasingly contentious counter-campaign against the legislation since its introduction in early June. VFW released a political cartoon earlier this month titled “Honor the Contract” which showed servicemembers standing in a firing line being manned by bureaucrats and the media.

Group officials defended the move as the “longstanding tradition of political satire.” Bost and fellow veterans committee member Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich) demanded VA Secretary Doug Collins to investigate VFW to see if the response ran afoul of any department regulations.

Veterans groups at Wednesday’s rally tiptoed around the controversy but acknowledged the hurt feelings within the community.

Nearly all of the groups on both sides of the fight identified passing the Star Act as a major priority for this year. VFW, DAV, the American Legion and others held an around-the-clock vigil together outside the Capitol for passage of the PACT Act four years ago this month. The sudden split has left advocates stunned.

“We recognize that reasonable people have reached different conclusions, and we respect those differences,” said Mario Marquez, executive director of government affairs at the American Legion. “Leadership, though, also requires more than identifying problems; it requires offering solutions … this legislation represents the strongest path forward.”

Further complicating the fight are provisions within the Care Act that could expand community care options for veterans, an issue that has raised concerns for veterans groups worried about siphoning money from VA hospitals.

And education groups like Student Veterans of America and Veterans Education Success have flagged provisions in the bill which would loosen restrictions for how benefits can be used at for-profit colleges and universities.

Whether the measure will pass is still in question. House Democratic leaders have pushed their members to oppose the legislation, even though the measure includes some bipartisan and Democratic-led provisions.

On Wednesday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said in a statement that the Care Act “needs serious changes” and said that “we should not be offsetting some disabilities to pay for others.” Republican leaders can afford only a few defections on the measure if Democrats remain united in opposition.

But Bost said he is confident the measure can survive a House vote this week and speed through the Senate, even though Democrats there can use procedural votes to block consideration of the plan.

He also downplayed the rift with VFW and DAV, two groups that have generally enjoyed strong relations with leadership of the House Veterans’ Affairs committee regardless of the party in power.

“We've had some harsh words and clashes,” he said. “But we're all trying to pull for the veterans. So we'll work through this with them.”