May 22, 2025

The "One Big Billionaire Payout" Bill Hurts Veterans

Press Contact

Meagan Whalen (Communications Director) 
Elain Shubat (Deputy Communications Director/Digital Director)

Early this morning, House Republicans passed the 2025 budget reconciliation bill, or "One Big Billionaire Payout" bill, harming veterans and punishing everyday Americans.

“This isn’t some routine budget bill. This is a reverse Robin Hood. It steals healthcare from veterans, food from hungry families, loan protections from students, and safety from nursing home residents. And it does all that to give billionaires a payday—with a price tag of $2.3 trillion in new debt. This isn’t about values. It’s about vanity—trying to give a twice-impeached former President a talking point for his next rally," said Ranking Member Takano. “We offered House Republicans every opportunity to limit damage to veterans, and they rejected every one.”

Ranking Member Mark Takano proposed several amendments to safeguard veterans' interests within the 2025 budget reconciliation bill, all of which House Republicans voted down. These amendments would have:

  • Exempted disabled veterans from new Medicaid work requirements.

  • Required CMS to notify veterans who are losing Medicaid coverage.

  • Required USDA to notify veterans and servicemembers if they’re kicked off SNAP, because over a million veterans rely on food assistance.

  • Created websites through HHS and USDA to help veterans navigate the fallout, healthcare, and nutrition resources for those losing coverage.

  • Preserved nursing home staffing reforms, because the bill delays a finalized Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule intended to address dangerous understaffing. Thousands of veterans rely on nursing home care paid for by VA.

  • Struck the repeal of the 90/10 Rule fix—a bipartisan protection that keeps for-profit colleges from targeting veterans as dollar signs. Without it, GI Bill recipients become cash cows for diploma mills, and taxpayers foot the bill when these shady schools collapse.

  • Required federal agencies to confirm that these provisions won’t increase fraud against student veterans before they take effect.

  • Codified essential safeguards against deceptive marketing, inflated job placement claims, and outright fraud by for-profit colleges and loan servicers.

“Veterans deserve better. The American people deserve better," said Ranking Member Takano. “I want to thank my colleagues for their continued efforts to pushback against these senseless efforts and thank Leader Jefferies for bringing awareness to the ways in which the budget bill threatens the security and well-being of veterans. I call on my Senate colleagues to rectify the injustices embodied in this heinous legislation by standing in support of the veteran community.” 

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