Republicans Vote to Send More Money to For-Profit Healthcare and Reject Democratic Efforts to Improve Oversight and Demand Accountability from Trump’s VA

Amendments by Reps. Conaway and Cherfilus-McCormick, requiring community care providers to complete the same clinical training VA providers receive—on suicide prevention, toxic exposure, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and military sexual trauma.

An amendment by Rep. Morrison, allowing such training to remain optional but incentivizing it by elevating trained providers in VA’s online search tools.

Amendments by Ranking Member Takano and Rep. Conaway, ensuring that veterans can’t bypass available VA telehealth appointments only to be redirected to private-sector telehealth—wasting resources and undercutting VA capacity.

An amendment by Rep. Brownley, blocking a provision allowing veterans to no-show for VA appointments in order to access private-sector care, penalizing other veterans and draining VA resources.

An amendment by Rep. Dexter, requiring VA to provide side-by-side comparisons of drive times and wait times for VA and private-sector care, so veterans can make informed choices about where to receive care.

A Ranking Member Takano amendment, improving quality and integrity in substance use treatment veterans receive from private-sector providers, by banning deceptive marketing and requiring accreditation.

An amendment by Rep. Conaway, requiring VA to finally establish a fee schedule for residential substance use disorder treatment—after years of overpaying rates as high as $6,000 per day.

Protecting Veterans from Scams – Rep. Ramirez offered an amendment that would require VA to educate veterans on certain scams that specifically target veterans for their benefits and connections, including financial scams, romance scams, multi-level marketing scams, pyramid schemes, imposter scams, fraudulent business practices, and benefits-related fraud. All Republicans voted against this amendment. 

Restoring Collective Bargaining Rights for VA Employees – Rep. Ramirez offered an amendment to H.R. 3951, which would have restored worker’s rights mandated by law to VA employees. All Republicans voted against this amendment.

Ensuring Access to Care and Benefits for All Veterans – Rep. Ramirez offered an amendment to H.R. 3951 that would have restored VA’s Office of Equity Assurance to study and address disparities in access to care and benefits for women, minority, LGBTQIA+, elderly, and rural veterans. All Republicans voted against this amendment.

Protection of the Franchise Fund – Ranking Member Takano offered an amendment to prevent Republican efforts to raid the franchise fund and use it to circumvent the regular appropriations process to pay for expensive, redundant IT projects. All Republicans voted against this amendment. 

Preventing Future Failures in Supply Chain – Rep. Budzinski offered an amendment that would have required VA to conduct thorough analyses, to include assessments of previous failures, cost assessments, and staffing models, and brief the Committees of jurisdiction before it moves forward with modernization efforts within the supply chain program. All Republicans voted against this amendment.

Eliminating Cronyism Within VA Contracting – Rep. Ramirez offered an amendment that would have prohibited contracts or agreements between VA and entities where a Special Government Employee, including members of DOGE, have a financial interest. All Republicans voted against this amendment.

Establish a Veterans Scam and Fraud Evasion (VSAFE) Officer tasked with preventing, reporting, and creating incident response plans for fraud and scam events.

Help veterans in U.S. Territories access VA healthcare, by authorizing VAsSecretary to assign a VA physician to serve as a traveling physician to provide healthcare to U.S. territories.

Clarify that a servicemember’s time in service tolls for the purposes of adverse possession when an individual attempts to claim ownership of their property. Requires VA to provide resources to servicemembers on protecting their property from squatters during periods of absence, how to be a landlord, and how to protect their property rights.

Address staffing shortages at VHA by streamlining the process for HPSP participants to transition into full-time positions at VA facilities. Bans smoking at all VA hospitals. 

Authorize a 5-year pilot grant program for nonprofit organizations to provide service dogs to veterans while requiring critical protections to ensure that nonprofits involved in the pilot program are properly accredited and treat the animals they work with humanely.

Require VA to better track claim timelines throughout the claims and appeals process, including claims that were not sealed after a suicide, and report that information to Congress. Bolsters VBA procedures and quality control to ensure the 200,000+ pending appeals can be handled efficiently and properly.

Close a pension benefits loophole, guaranteeing that pension payments will go to next-of-kin. If no next-of-kin is identified within one year, the benefit will revert to the state.

Remove the “new and relevant” evidence requirement for supplemental claims filed within a one-year window.

Increase VA’s conforming loan limit for second homes to promote veteran homeownership.

Amend current law to allow VA to send digital messaging for G.I. Bill updates.

Update the VRE program by requiring veterans to apply for VRE once eligible, changing employment assistance to 12 months, and requiring VA to report wage data for graduates.

Require VA to offer annual mental health care consultations and outreach on mental health care services to veterans receiving compensation for a service-connected disability. Requires GAO to conduct a review of the efficacy of the outreach program within 2 years of enactment.

Mandate that board member candidates with three or more years of experience in VA law be given priority. 

Direct the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a program identifying American-Jewish servicemembers buried in US military cemeteries overseas with markers that incorrectly identify their religion.

Allow families of veterans who died before November 1, 1990, to request a government-issued headstone.

Expand access to the Edith Nourse STEM Scholarship by lowering the number of completed credit hours and removing the requirement that all other GI Bill benefits be exhausted.  

Authorize VAs Secretary to approve multi-state apprenticeship programs for purposes of veterans’ educational assistance.

Prohibit VA from collecting copays from veterans in specific situations where the collection delay is at the fault of the Department and provide the Department with the authority to enter into copay waivers for veterans.

Strengthen the VR&E program for veterans whose redevelopment plans need modifications when their current goal is no longer reasonably feasible due to changes in their disabilities or changes in the veteran’s circumstances that make rehabilitation more likely in a different goal.

Authorize VA to lease major medical facilities, under both PACT Act authority (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Utah, Florida, Washington) and FY25 authority (Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Puerto Rico).