The House will vote this week on the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, a nearly 60-bill package that includes the Major Richard Star Act. Republicans want to pay for it by cutting disability benefits for veterans who receive or may receive benefits for tinnitus and sleep apnea.
That puts a price tag fight at the center of a veterans care bill that Chairman Mike Bost is pressing lawmakers to move forward. The package comes as advocates and lawmakers argue over whether new spending for veterans should be offset by benefit reductions.
Mike Bost and the House vote
Bost is pushing the legislation ahead in The House this week. The bill bundles nearly 60 measures into one vote, including the Major Richard Star Act, which gives the package a broader reach than a single stand-alone proposal.
The House procedure matters because one vote can advance the full package or stop it before the chamber acts on each piece separately. That structure also means the offset dispute reaches the floor with the rest of the veterans provisions still attached.
Blumenthal and Takano oppose offsets
Blumenthal and Takano say the cuts are not acceptable. Blumenthal said, “We are here to say that is simply not true.” He also said, “The Republican insistence on offsetting new investments in veterans is both absurd and cruel.”
He added, “The cost of war includes the human cost of caring for our veterans.” And he said, “We make a promise to care for these men and women after their service, and a great nation keeps its promises.”
46 Senate Democrats to Collins
Recently, 46 Senate Democrats communicated their opposition to the offset in a letter to VA Secretary Collins. They pointed to nearly $100 billion for the Department of Defense that remains unobligated and unspent from H.R. 1, arguing that money is available without taking benefits from disabled veterans.
The dispute leaves the House facing a direct choice this week: advance the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act with the proposed offset or move it without the disability cuts Republicans want. Whether the House will approve the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act without the proposed benefit cuts is not answered yet.
