May 14, 2026

Full Committee Markup: Democrats Support Veterans, Republicans Push Privatization

Press Contact

Meagan Whalen(Communications Director)

Elain Shubat(Deputy Communications Director/Digital Director)

WASHINGTON—Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA) released the following statement following a full committee markup.

“Today, Committee Democrats led two bills that would improve veterans’ access to life-saving medication and prevent scammers from taking advantage of veterans’ earned benefits,” said Ranking Member Takano. “In contrast, Republicans pushed a number of bills aimed to further privatize VA, pushing veterans into the community and out of VA, which is uniquely prepared to serve them.”

16 bills and three major medical facility lease resolutions were considered by the committee at today’s markup. Four bills sponsored by Democratic members advanced, including H.R. 5999 – the Veteran Opioid Emergency Treatment Act, H.R. 5723, the Fraud Reduction And Uncovering Deception (FRAUD) in VA Disability Exams Act, H.R. 3159, the Improving SCRA Benefit Utilization Act, and H.R. 5436, the End Transcript Withholding for Veterans Act. The following two bills, led by Committee Democrats, were approved:

  • H.R. 5999, the Veteran Opioid Emergency Treatment Act, led by Congressman Herb Conaway (D-NJ), a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, would require VA to provide an opioid antagonist (i.e. naloxone or its brand name Narcan) to any veteran without requiring a prescription from VA or any copayment. Currently, VA can provide opioid antagonists like naloxone to veterans who are at high risk for overdose without requiring a copayment. However, VA still requires prescriptions to dispense all over-the-counter medications, including naloxone to veterans, which could still limit access to naloxone.

  • H.R. 5723, the Fraud Reduction And Uncovering Deception (FRAUD) in VA Disability Exams Act with an ANS led by Ranking Member Takano, would mandate that VA develop a strategy to identify and report fraud within the provision of disability benefit questionnaire (DBQ) forms, establish a reporting process and annual reporting requirement for suspected DBQ fraud, and establish the authority for the VA Inspector General to create and maintain bank accounts for the purposes of undercover investigations. All of this would be done to prevent paid, third-party medical evidence providers, who are often connected to claim sharks, from creating fraudulent medical evidence that threatens to subvert the disability benefit claims system and potentially expose veterans to charges of fraud.

Unfortunately, Republicans rejected an amendment offered by Ranking Member Takano, which would have begun the process of creating a presumption of service connection for servicemembers exposed to blast overpressure. This amendment was offered to H.R. 6444, the Blast Overpressure Research and Mitigation Task Force Act, led by Congressman Jackson (R-TX).

Of the bill and his amendment, Ranking Member Takano said at markup, “Those in combat arms occupations in our military train relentlessly... That training involves repetition, and firing thousands of rounds from weapons of all sizes... every single one of those rounds represents a contained explosion happening in very close proximity to our servicemembers... We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this blast pressure affects the brain, lungs, ear and other body systems. And while the effect may be small or even imperceptible at first, it is cumulative... I have introduced this amendment, to require VA [to] begin the process of developing a presumption of service connection for blast overpressure… There is already a robust body of evidence to support blast overpressure as a presumptive. And I feel strongly that a presumption of service connection is warranted in this case... this amendment simply instructs VA to use the process established by the PACT Act to consider it.”

All voting Republicans voted no on the Ranking Member’s amendment to begin the process of establishing a blast overpressure presumption.

Republicans also pushed bills that prioritized the further privatization of VA:

  • H.R. 2283, the Recognizing Community Organizations for Veteran Engagement and Recovery (RECOVER) Act, led by Chairman Bost (R-IL), would pilot a 3-year, $20 million-a-year grant program to allow non-VA providers to deliver mental healthcare to veterans. This bill will drive further resources to community providers with fewer strings attached and even less accountability than currently exists under VA’s existing community care program. The bill would also open the potential for community providers to double or even triple dip, receiving a grant while billing VA, Medicare, and other health plans for the very same care for the very same veteran.

  • H.R. 6993, the Veterans TBI Breakthrough Exploration of Adaptive Care Opportunities Nationwide (BEACON) Act, led by Representative Bergman (R-MI), would pilot two, three-year grant programs to fund non-VA research and treatment for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The bill would require VA to siphon funds away from existing VA mental health treatment and research programs, if Congress does not appropriate specific funds for the two grant programs. It also directs VA to contract with a third party to perform the inherently governmental functions of allocating and overseeing the expenditure of grant funding. Finally, the bill lacks robust oversight mechanisms to ensure funds are directed toward the highest-value research.