Johnson delays veterans bill vote amid criticism of disability cuts

Provision would eliminate tinnitus rating, tighten sleep apnea compensation

House leadership postponed a scheduled vote on a comprehensive veterans’ benefits bill Thursday after veterans organizations and Democratic lawmakers said a provision to change the disability rating schedule for sleep apnea and tinnitus would cut benefits for an estimated 1.5 million veterans.

The postponement was the second time in two weeks the bill was pulled from the floor.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Punchbowl News that the delay was due to what he called “misinformation” about H.R. 9237, dubbed the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act. “Our veterans affairs committee has done a great job engaging with veterans,” Johnson said. “There still remains, though, a lot of misinformation out there, so instead of putting the bill on the floor this afternoon, we’re going to delay it just a bit.”

Johnson said he expected the bill to be taken up again in September. “We’re going to have several more weeks ahead of us before we get back here in September would be my guess when we process all this again.”

The bill funds some costly new veterans’ benefits that have drawn bipartisan support, notably the Major Richard Star Act, under which retired, combat-injured veterans would receive their full Veterans Affairs disability compensation alongside their military retirement pay. To pay for those expansions, the bill eliminates the standalone 10% disability rating for tinnitus and tightens which veterans can qualify for compensation for sleep apnea.

Rep. Mark Takano of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, issued a statement calling the cuts “the largest betrayal of veterans in a single legislative act in modern history.”

“This bill asks veterans themselves to pay the price for expanding benefits to others — a betrayal of the promise made when they raised their right hand,” Takano said. He said the GOP majority knows it cannot fund the Major Richard Star Act by “strip[ping] veterans of the benefits they earned. Caring for veterans is paying for the cost of war, and Republicans are not honoring the contract with this bill.”

In a separate letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, 47 Senate Democrats and independents expressed “strong opposition” to the rule, saying it would reduce benefits for more than 1 million veterans. The lawmakers urged Collins “to listen to the growing opposition from veterans and publicly commit to addressing their concerns.”