House Republicans Pull Sweeping Veterans Benefits Bill After Narrow Floor Setback
House GOP leaders abruptly shelved the Take Care of America's Veterans Act (H.R. 9237) on Thursday just before a final vote, after a Democratic motion to send the bill back to committee failed by a single vote and leadership concluded it lacked the support to pass. It marked the second time in two weeks the measure was pulled from the floor.
The main event on Capitol Hill this week was the collapse, at least for now, of a major veterans package in the House. The Take Care of America's Veterans Act (H.R. 9237) is a collection of more than 60 bills related to the VA and veteran care, including benefits increases for severely disabled veterans and the families of service members who died in the line of duty; its centerpiece is the Major Richard Star Act, which would allow veterans forced to retire early due to a combat injury to collect their full military retirement pay in addition to VA disability benefits.
The dispute centered on how to pay for those new benefits. The bill funds them by cutting elsewhere, including a measure eliminating the standalone 10% disability rating for tinnitus and tightening which veterans can qualify for compensation for sleep apnea; the funding trade-off drew fierce opposition from Democratic lawmakers and most of the major veterans' organizations. Committee Chairman Mike Bost, a Republican from Illinois and a Marine Corps veteran, defended the offsets. Bost argued the offsets were necessary in order for the bill to be taken up by the Senate, as the Major Richard Star Act has stalled for years in Congress in part due to its high price tag.
After more than an hour of debate Thursday, the drama came to a head. Rep. Chris DeLuzio, a Pennsylvania Democrat, offered a motion to return the bill to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, and the chamber rejected the effort in a 210-211 vote. Leadership then declined to hold the final vote. According to Military.com, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that Republican leaders decided to delay the vote because "there still remains ... a lot of misinformation" surrounding the legislation, and indicated the bill would likely return after lawmakers reconvene in September. The top Democrat on the Veterans' Affairs Committee offered a blunter reading. Rep. Mark Takano of California said the explanation was simpler: there was not enough support, Republicans were counting votes and were short, and did not want the embarrassment of losing on the floor. Major veterans groups were split, with the VFW and Disabled American Veterans opposing the package as written.
A day earlier, the House cleared a spending bill for the coming fiscal year. In a mostly party-line 217-209 vote, the House passed the $47.3 billion National Security-State appropriations bill, which would represent a decrease of about $2.7 billion from the fiscal 2026 enacted level. As part of an effort to appease hard-line conservatives, the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, was merged with the funding bill, though the Senate is expected to strip it out. A closely watched amendment also failed: an amendment from Rep. Thomas Massie to cut off aid to Israel failed in a 104-314 vote that showed how the issue is reshaping dynamics in the Democratic Party.
Looking ahead, House Republicans are launching a new reconciliation effort. Reporting from The Hill and Breaking Defense noted that the "Reconciliation 3.0" budget resolution carries $60 billion for defense, short of the $67 billion the White House requested for Iran War-related expenses, and would allow Republicans to bypass the Senate filibuster and pass a bill on party lines. The plan is already drawing resistance from the party's fiscal conservatives, with at least one Republican predicting it would be "dead on arrival."
Highlights: - The House narrowly defeated a Democratic motion to recommit the veterans bill to committee by a vote of 210-211, but rather than proceeding to final passage, Republican leaders pulled the measure from the floor. - The House on Wednesday passed an appropriations bill funding the State Department and other programs for fiscal 2027, voting 217-209, with one Democrat crossing over and one Republican opposed. - House Republicans unveiled a roughly $95 billion budget resolution to fund defense, farm aid and voter ID efforts, with the Budget Committee scheduled to mark it up Thursday to launch a third reconciliation push.