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Legislative Hearing

House Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing

May 20, 2026 (recording here)

HEARING INFORMATION

Witnesses & Written Testimony (linked) (Panel One):

• Mr. Mark Ritchie: Policy Chair, National Federal Development Association

• Ms. Brittany Madni: Executive Vice President, Economic Policy Innovation Center

• Mr. Tim Stretton: Director of the Congressional Oversight Initiative, Project On Government Oversight

• Ms. Kristina Keenan: Director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S.

Witnesses & Written Testimony (linked) (Panel Two):

• Mr. Mike Desmond: Strategic Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy, Mission Roll Call

• Mr. Cole Lyle: Director, Legislative Affairs Division, The American Legion

• Mr. Jon Retzer: National Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans

• Mr. Morgan Brown: National Legislative Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America

TOP-LINES TO SHOW YOU ARE IN THE KNOW

1. Republicans repeatedly argued that the VA had become larger and more expensive without delivering consistently better outcomes, making reauthorization and stronger oversight long overdue.

2. Democrats largely focused on protecting veterans from losing benefits or representation, warning that some restructuring proposals could weaken oversight, specialized advisory committees, or access to care.

3. Multiple veteran service organizations strongly supported expanding dental care eligibility, automatic VA healthcare enrollment at military separation, and greater transition support for veterans entering civilian life.

4. VA infrastructure, leasing, and procurement failures emerged as a major bipartisan concern, with lawmakers and witnesses criticizing outdated cost-estimation methods, delayed projects, and poor acquisition oversight.

5. Mental health, suicide prevention, and stability during the post-service transition period were central themes throughout the hearing, particularly in discussions involving homelessness, appeals delays, incarceration, and barriers to accessing care.

PARTY LINE PERSPECTIVES

OPENING STATEMENTS FROM THE COMMITTEE

• Chairman Mike Bost stated that the hearing continued the committee’s effort to reauthorize VA programs and restore accountability within the Department of Veterans Affairs. He argued that Congress had relied too heavily on appropriations without regularly updating or reviewing VA programs, some of which had not been meaningfully examined since before the Global War on Terror. He said veterans had become frustrated with bureaucracy, delays, and a system that appeared more focused on protecting itself than serving veterans, while the VA continued to struggle with issues such as veteran suicide, infrastructure delays, and findings of fraud, waste, and mismanagement despite increased funding and staffing. Chairman Bost concluded that the legislation under consideration aimed to modernize and reauthorize key VA programs, improve accountability and transparency, and ensure the VA delivered care and benefits with the urgency and excellence veterans deserved.

• Ranking Member Mark Takano stated that the hearing followed a previous legislative hearing held in March and expressed concerns about many of the remaining bills on the agenda. He criticized the process for initially excluding veteran service organizations from participation and said Democratic members had insisted that veteran stakeholders be allowed to testify before major changes to VA programs and benefits were considered. The Ranking Member argued that some proposals would weaken veteran representation or reduce benefits, questioned whether the legislation reflected the priorities of veteran service organizations, and noted the absence of bills addressing toxic exposure presumptives, GI Bill expansion, and the Guard VA Act. He also raised concerns about how the legislation would be funded, criticized the proposed offsets as unrealistic, and argued that the process lacked a responsible or realistic pathway for enactment.

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS (PANEL ONE)

• Ms. Brittany Madni stated that the nation’s growing $39 trillion debt posed serious economic risks that directly affected veterans and their families through higher taxes, inflation, and pressure on healthcare costs. She argued that while funding veterans’ benefits remained important, Congress needed to closely examine whether VA spending was effective and eliminate wasteful or unnecessary expenditures. Ms. Madni highlighted the dramatic increase in veterans’ spending since 1977, noted that expenditures continued to rise even as the veteran population declined, and called for greater oversight of disability compensation, healthcare spending, and bureaucratic overhead to address fraud, waste, abuse, and improper payments.

• Mr. Tim Stretton stated that Congress had a constitutional responsibility to conduct strong oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs in order to prevent waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement. He emphasized the importance of whistleblowers, bipartisan cooperation, inspectors general, and the Government Accountability Office in ensuring accountability and informing future legislation. Mr. Stretton referenced the 2014 VA waitlist scandal as an example of oversight failures and noted that many VA programs had continued operating under expired authorizations despite the department’s growing budget and contracting activity. He concluded that effective oversight protected taxpayer dollars, improved government performance, safeguarded veterans and whistleblowers, and upheld the constitutional system of checks and balances.

• Mr. Mark Ritchie stated that the National Federal Development Association supported H.R. 6599, the Leasing and Infrastructure Act of 2025, because it would modernize VA leasing practices and improve the delivery of medical facilities for veterans. He argued that the VA’s current leasing and approval processes were inefficient, increased costs, and caused repeated delays in healthcare infrastructure projects. Mr. Ritchie explained that outdated rent calculations, long-term full-service leases, and a slow approval process involving the VA, GSA, and OMB contributed to budget overruns and stalled projects. He concluded that the legislation would streamline leasing authority, reduce administrative waste, improve fiscal accountability, and help deliver modern healthcare facilities more quickly to veterans.

• Ms. Kristina Keenan stated that the Veterans of Foreign Wars supported several pieces of pending legislation intended to improve accountability, healthcare access, economic opportunity, and toxic exposure oversight within the VA system. She expressed cautious support for reforms to the VA’s VISN structure, noting that the VFW wanted to better understand the impact of ongoing VA restructuring efforts before endorsing major statutory changes. Ms. Keenan also supported legislation creating a new VA administration focused on economic opportunity and transition programs, as well as a bill that would automatically enroll transitioning service members into VA healthcare to improve continuity of care and reduce barriers to benefits. She concluded by supporting the creation of centralized leadership for toxic exposure oversight and called for greater transparency regarding how the VA evaluated exposures, presumptive conditions, and scientific evidence.

• Chairman Mike Bost focused his questioning on oversight, accountability, and the importance of reauthorizing VA programs rather than continuing long-term appropriations without review. Ms. Madni argued that outdated authorizations, particularly for VA mental health research programs, demonstrated why Congress needed to reassess whether funding aligned with current veteran needs, noting that veteran suicide rates per 100,000 had increased significantly since the early 2000s.

  Chairman Bost also questioned Mr. Stretton about whether granting the VA additional flexibility could weaken Congressional oversight, and Mr. Stretton responded that agencies seeking more authority or funding should regularly testify before Congress about implementation plans and spending decisions.

  Chairman Bost further asked about flaws in OMB’s cost-estimation methods for VA infrastructure projects, and Mr. Ritchie argued that the government relied on office-building rental models that substantially underestimated the true costs of medical facilities and contributed to repeated project funding shortfalls.

• Ranking Member Mark Takano concentrated on veteran protections, oversight, and skepticism toward proposals that would expand private-sector influence over VA operations. He asked whether the Guard VA Benefits Act should advance despite being removed from the agenda, and Ms. Keenan stated that the VFW strongly supported the bill because delays allowed unaccredited claims consultants to continue exploiting veterans.

  Ranking Member Takano also pressed on whether the legislation under consideration would actually improve oversight, while Mr. Stretton said POGO generally supported Congress reassessing whether existing VA programs continued meeting veterans’ needs.

  Ranking Member Takano additionally challenged Mr. Ritchie on proposals to shift leasing authority away from the General Services Administration, questioning whether reducing external oversight and federal real estate expertise could worsen existing procurement and infrastructure problems within the VA.

• Rep. Derrick Van Orden highlighted H.R. 6843, legislation focused on improving veterans’ transition services after active duty. He emphasized concerns about suicide risk during the first two years after military separation and argued that the VA needed a dedicated structure focused specifically on transition and economic opportunity programs.

  Rep. Van Orden also referenced commitments from senior Defense and VA officials to improve coordination between active-duty service and veteran status and urged support for reforms that would create a more seamless transition process for service members entering civilian life.

• Rep. Julia Brownley focused on access to dental care within the VA healthcare system and criticized the removal of her reproductive healthcare legislation from the hearing agenda. She noted that only a fraction of VA facilities offered dental services and asked about barriers veterans faced in obtaining dental care. Ms. Keenan responded that access varied significantly by facility and geography, while transportation remained a major obstacle, particularly for rural veterans.

  Rep. Brownley also highlighted disparities in dental insurance coverage and oral health outcomes among veterans and argued that inadequate dental access could worsen broader health conditions, particularly among older veterans. She additionally defended keeping VA leasing oversight within the General Services Administration, arguing that project delivery had improved since GSA assumed greater authority over leasing decisions.

• Rep. Tom Barrett centered his questioning on acquisition reform, contract oversight, and accountability for large-scale VA modernization efforts, including the troubled electronic health record program. He argued that bureaucratic procurement processes and poor contractor accountability increased costs while reducing the resources available for direct veteran services. Ms. Madni responded that rising spending without improved outcomes could worsen inflationary pressures and increase future contracting costs, reinforcing the need for stronger Congressional oversight.

  Rep. Barrett also referenced a recent Justice Department indictment involving a former VA executive connected to the electronic health record modernization effort and questioned Ms. Keenan about how insufficient oversight harmed veterans; Ms. Keenan agreed that additional oversight and modernization controls were needed to reduce waste, delays, and mismanagement.

• Rep. Morgan McGarvey focused on the backlog of veterans’ appeals cases and the difficulty in retaining attorneys at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. He argued that lengthy appeals delays created severe financial and healthcare hardships for veterans waiting years to receive earned benefits and promoted his legislation allowing Board attorneys to advance to GS-15 positions as a retention tool. Ms. Keenan supported the proposal and stated that attorney turnover directly contributed to the backlog, while improved retention would likely increase decision quality and reduce errors that forced veterans back into the appeals system. Rep. McGarvey emphasized that the issue was fundamentally about delivering timely benefits to veterans rather than internal bureaucratic classifications.

• Rep. Greg Murphy emphasized the need for stronger oversight, modernization, and technological innovation within the VA system. He promoted legislation that would establish a centralized VA research data system integrated with electronic health records in order to improve coordination, tracking, and oversight of research projects.

  Rep. Murphy also sharply criticized the VA’s long-running electronic medical record modernization failures and argued that artificial intelligence could significantly improve veterans’ access to information and services by automating routine interactions, streamlining bureaucracy, and integrating directly with veterans’ medical records. He described AI-assisted systems as a potential breakthrough for improving veterans’ navigation of the healthcare system and reducing administrative burdens.

• Rep. Maxine Dexter discussed her Every Veteran Housed Act and framed veteran homelessness as both a public health and ethical issue. She argued that current eligibility rules excluded some vulnerable veterans, particularly those with less-than-honorable discharges, from housing assistance and other support services. Ms. Keenan responded that expanding eligibility could help reach veterans facing housing instability, mental health challenges, and family difficulties, while greater housing stability could also support suicide prevention and improved health outcomes.

  Rep. Dexter additionally cautioned that while transparency and accountability reforms were important, Congress needed to avoid weakening oversight safeguards in ways that could create new opportunities for waste, fraud, or abuse.

• Rep. Herb Conaway focused on mental healthcare access for incarcerated veterans and promoted his bipartisan pilot program to provide telehealth and mobile mental health services within correctional facilities. He cited research showing that veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and substance use disorders faced significantly higher risks of criminal justice involvement and argued that the VA currently lacked adequate systems for supporting justice-involved veterans during incarceration. Ms. Keenan generally supported the proposal and stated that incarcerated veterans often lacked meaningful access to veteran-specific healthcare, though she recommended expanding the pilot to address a broader range of mental health conditions beyond PTSD and military sexual trauma.

  Rep. Conaway also emphasized that improved mental healthcare access during incarceration could reduce recidivism, improve post-release stability, and support veterans’ successful reintegration into their communities.

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS (PANEL TWO)

• Mr. Cole Lyle stated that the American Legion supported most of the legislation under consideration because the proposals generally aligned with priorities identified by its membership and aimed to modernize the VA, improve accountability, and close gaps in care and benefits. He expressed support for reforms involving VISN restructuring, formulary access, infrastructure leasing, dental care expansion, automatic VA enrollment for transitioning service members, homelessness assistance for veterans with other-than-honorable discharges, sexual assault response improvements, toxic exposure oversight, and efforts to reduce the Board of Veterans’ Appeals backlog. Mr. Lyle also supported research modernization and executive accountability measures but warned that many reforms would require sufficient VA staffing and resources to avoid implementation problems. He additionally opposed legislation that would consolidate or sunset advisory committees, reduce protections tied to vocational rehabilitation and unemployability benefits, or shift transition and employment responsibilities away from the Department of Labor.

• Mr. Mike Desmond stated that Mission Roll Call’s veteran surveys showed veterans generally believed the VA was improving in some areas of healthcare quality and service delivery, but continued to experience significant problems involving access, timeliness, consistency, and bureaucratic complexity. He argued that the reauthorization effort addressed many of the structural problems veterans identified directly in surveys, particularly around research modernization, formulary access, infrastructure delays, and regional disparities in care availability. Mr. Desmond emphasized support for accelerating research translation for conditions such as PTSD and traumatic brain injury, improving access to specialized care, and modernizing infrastructure to reduce travel burdens for rural veterans. He also stressed the importance of “left of clinical” interventions that supported veterans before crises emerged, including transition support, automatic enrollment in VA care, mobility assistance, and homelessness prevention efforts designed to stabilize veterans earlier and reduce long-term mental health and suicide risks.

• Mr. Jon Retzer stated that DAV strongly supported legislation expanding dental care eligibility to all enrolled veterans because oral health problems directly affected broader medical conditions including heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and cancer. He also supported creation of a new Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration to consolidate education, employment, rehabilitation, housing, and transition programs under a single accountable structure in order to reduce fragmentation and improve service delivery. Mr. Retzer opposed the VA Research Reform Act, arguing that it could centralize control, undermine scientific independence, disrupt longstanding research partnerships, and discourage outside investment in VA research programs. He additionally raised strong concerns about provisions within the Veterans Readiness and Employment Improvement Act that could reduce individual unemployability benefits for veterans participating in rehabilitation programs, warning that such changes could destabilize financially vulnerable veterans and discourage participation in rehabilitation efforts. Mr. Retzer further cautioned that broader VA restructuring efforts, including workforce reductions and increasing reliance on private-sector community care, risked weakening the long-term capacity of the integrated VA healthcare system.

• Mr. Morgan Brown stated that Paralyzed Veterans of America generally supported efforts to establish a more formalized VA authorization process similar to the National Defense Authorization Act, but warned that Congress should avoid creating delays or political disputes that could interrupt veterans’ access to benefits and services. He emphasized that veteran service organizations needed to remain actively involved in shaping any new authorization framework. Mr. Brown expressed cautious support for efforts to improve formulary consistency, research accountability, transition services, and automatic enrollment into VA healthcare, while raising concerns that additional oversight committees or centralized research structures could increase bureaucracy, weaken scientific independence, or disadvantage research focused on smaller veteran populations such as spinal cord injury patients. He strongly supported the creation of a new Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration and expansion of dental care eligibility, but opposed portions of the Veterans Readiness and Employment Improvement Act that he believed could create unnecessary bureaucracy, weaken counselor expertise standards, reduce benefits for catastrophically disabled veterans, and negatively affect veterans receiving total disability based on individual unemployability benefits.

• Chairman Bost focused his questioning on research coordination, infrastructure delays, and modernization challenges within the VA system. He asked about the value of increased coordination between the VA and agencies such as NIH and CDC, and Mr. Lyle responded that the Research Reform Act could help streamline interagency collaboration on issues including suicide prevention and healthcare innovation, although he expressed concerns about provisions that might disadvantage foundational research without easily measurable outcomes.

  Chairman Bost also asked about how delays in construction and infrastructure projects affected veterans, and Mr. Desmond stated that veterans consistently reported access barriers and long travel distances to care in Mission Roll Call surveys, particularly in rural areas.

  Chairman Bost further questioned Mr. Retzer about the need for continuous prosthetics and sensory aid innovation as the veteran population ages, and asked Mr. Brown about infrastructure funding shortages and aging VA facilities, including overcrowded spinal cord injury centers and outdated multi-patient rooms that complicated infection control and patient capacity.

• Rep. Delia Ramirez focused on protecting veterans from predatory educational institutions and restoring GI Bill benefits for student veterans who had been defrauded. She argued that veterans should not lose educational opportunities because of bad actors exploiting federal education funding and promoted her Student Veterans Benefit Restoration Act of 2025.

  Rep. Ramirez specifically advocated for adding a retroactive provision to the legislation so previously defrauded veterans could also regain lost benefits and return to school. Mr. Lyle, Mr. Desmond, Mr. Retzer, and Mr. Brown all expressed support for including retroactive protections, emphasizing that veterans deserved restitution and that restoring benefits would improve long-term education, financial stability, and justice for affected veterans.

• Rep. Kelly Morrison concentrated on improving care protocols for veterans who experienced sexual assault and promoted her VA Safe Care Act. She described the high rates of military sexual trauma among veterans and argued that gaps in care coordination, evidence collection, mental health referrals, and access to trained providers could worsen trauma outcomes.

  Rep. Morrison asked Mr. Lyle, Mr. Retzer, and Mr. Brown about the importance of standardized sexual assault response protocols within VA facilities, and all three witnesses emphasized the need for timely care, trauma-informed training, standardized procedures, proper staffing, rape kit availability, and coordinated referrals to mental health and community providers. Mr. Brown additionally noted from his law enforcement background that standardized procedures and clearly defined roles were critical for protecting victims and ensuring consistent responses during crisis situations.

• Ranking Member Takano focused his questioning on preserving specialized veteran advisory committees and criticizing aspects of proposed VR&E reforms. He asked Mr. Lyle about the importance of advisory committees focused on women veterans, tribal and Native veterans, homeless veterans, and minority veterans, and Mr. Lyle argued that consolidating those committees into a single structure would reduce expertise, representation, and focused attention on the unique needs of each population.

  Ranking Member Takano also questioned Mr. Brown about concerns surrounding the Veterans Readiness and Employment Accountability Act, and Mr. Brown responded that several provisions were unnecessary or potentially harmful, including language affecting vocational rehabilitation counselors, employment coordinators, and veterans receiving individual unemployability benefits. Mr. Brown additionally warned that the legislation failed to address major staffing shortages within the VR&E system, which Ranking Member Takano described as one of the program’s most significant operational problems.

• Chairman Bost concluded the hearing by emphasizing that Congress could no longer continue operating “on autopilot” regarding VA authorizations and argued that many VA programs had not been meaningfully reauthorized since before or shortly after September 11, 2001. He stated that the legislative proposals discussed during the hearing aimed to modernize the VA, reduce bureaucratic barriers, strengthen healthcare delivery, and better align programs with the needs of current generations of veterans. Bost also reiterated his intention to continue working with members of both parties and veteran service organizations throughout the reauthorization process.

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