[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 124 (Monday, July 21, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H3484-H3487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROTECTING REGULAR ORDER FOR VETERANS ACT OF 2025
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(S. 423) to protect regular order for budgeting for the Department of
Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 423
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PROTECTING REGULAR ORDER FOR VETERANS.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act of 2025'' or the
``PRO Veterans Act of 2025''.
(b) Quarterly Briefings on Department of Veterans Affairs
Budgetary Shortfalls.--
(1) Quarterly briefings.--
(A) Quarterly briefings required.--During the first quarter
beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act and in
each quarter thereafter until the date that is three years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs shall provide to the appropriate committees
of Congress a quarterly briefing, in person, on the budget of
the Department of Veterans Affairs and any shortfall the
Department may be experiencing.
(B) Plans.--In any case in which the Secretary informs
Congress during a briefing under paragraph (1) that the
Department is experiencing a shortfall, the Secretary shall,
during such briefing, present the plans of the Secretary to
address or mitigate the shortfall.
(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(i) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
(ii) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
(B) Shortfall.--The term ``shortfall'', with respect to a
fiscal year, means that the amount of appropriations required
by the Department of Veterans Affairs for such fiscal year to
meet all of the statutory obligations of the Department
during that fiscal year exceeds the amount of appropriations
requested for the Department for that fiscal year in the
budget of the President submitted pursuant to section 1105(a)
of title 31, United States Code, for that fiscal year.
(c) Limitations on Provision of Incentives for Critical
Skills to Senior Executive Service Employees of Department of
Veterans Affairs.--Section 706(d) of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(7)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B)(ii), a critical skill
incentive may not be provided under paragraph (1) to an
employee of the Department employed in a Senior Executive
Service position, or a position in another comparable system
for senior-level Government employees, as defined by the
Secretary, whose position is at the Central Office of the
Department, including the Veterans Health Administration, the
Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery
Administration, regardless of the actual location where the
employee performs the functions of the position.
``(B)(i) A critical skill incentive provided under
paragraph (1) to an employee of the Department employed in a
Senior Executive Service position, or a position in another
comparable system for senior-level Government employees, as
defined by the Secretary, not described in subparagraph (A)
of this paragraph may only be provided--
``(I) on an individual basis and may not be provided to a
group of such employees; and
``(II) upon approval of the following officers or those
serving in an acting capacity:
``(aa) The Under Secretary for Benefits, the Under
Secretary for Health, or the Under Secretary for Memorial
Affairs.
``(bb) The Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and
Administration.
``(cc) The Director of the Office of Management or the
Chief Financial Officer.
``(dd) The Assistant Secretary for Accountability and
Whistleblower Protection.
``(ee) The General Counsel.
``(ff) Such other officers as the Secretary determines
appropriate.
``(ii) In the case of an employee of the Department
employed in a Senior Executive Service position, or a
position in another comparable system for senior-level
Government employees, as defined by the Secretary, whose
position is primarily at the Central Office of the
Department, but who performs some portion of the employee's
job function at other facilities of the Department, as
defined by the Secretary, not at Central Office--
``(I) the employee shall not be considered described in
subparagraph (A) with respect to the portion of the
employee's job function that is based out of non-Central
Office facilities of the Department; and
``(II) any critical skill incentive provided under
paragraph (1) to the employee for the portion of the
employee's job function that is based out of facilities of
the Department other than the Central Office shall be
proportionate to the time spent at those Department
facilities.
``(C)(i) Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of the Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act of
2025, and not less frequently than once each year thereafter,
the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
of the House of Representatives an annual report on the
employees of the Department employed in a Senior Executive
Service position, or a position in another comparable system
for senior-level Government employees, as defined by the
Secretary, who were provided a critical skill incentive under
paragraph (1).
[[Page H3485]]
``(ii) Reports submitted pursuant to clause (i) may be
submitted by incorporating their contents into other
congressionally mandated reports to the committees described
in such clause.
``(D) In this paragraph, the term `Senior Executive Service
position' has the meaning given such term in section 3132(a)
of title 5.''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF VETERANS EXPERIENCE OFFICE.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Improving Veterans' Experience Act of 2025''.
(b) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 3 of title 38, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 325. Veterans experience office
``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the
Department within the Office of the Secretary an office to be
known as the `Veterans Experience Office' (in this section
referred to as the `Office').
``(b) Head of Office.--(1) The head of the Office shall be
the Chief Veterans Experience Officer.
``(2) The Chief Veterans Experience Officer shall--
``(A) be appointed by the Secretary from among individuals
the Secretary considers qualified to perform the duties of
the position;
``(B) report directly to the Secretary; and
``(C) be responsible for carrying out the functions of the
Office set forth under subsection (c).
``(c) Function.--The functions of the Office are as
follows:
``(1) Carrying out the key customer experience initiatives
of the Department relating to veterans' and other
beneficiaries' satisfaction with and usage of benefits and
services furnished under laws administered by the Secretary
for which they are eligible, including setting the strategy,
framework, policy, and other guidance for the Department
relating to customer experience, including ensuring the
activities of the Office and those of other organizations and
offices within the Department are coordinated and not
duplicative.
``(2) Requiring the heads of other organizations and
offices within the Department to report regularly on customer
experience metrics, action plans, and other customer
experience improvement efforts to the Chief Veterans
Experience Officer.
``(3) Collecting veteran-derived data--
``(A) to determine veteran and beneficiary satisfaction
with and usage of the benefits and services furnished under
laws administered by the Secretary for which they are
eligible; and
``(B) to be considered during policymaking.
``(4) Providing strategic guidance and strategies to
Department entities for engaging with veterans and
beneficiaries regarding benefits and services furnished under
laws administered by the Secretary, including those not using
such benefits and services.
``(5) Assessing and advising the Secretary on the accuracy
and helpfulness of the websites and other customer-facing
information of the Department, be it available electronically
or in any other format.
``(6) Assessing and advising the Secretary on the status
and opportunities for improvement of the customer service
efforts of the Department.
``(d) Reports.--(1) Each year, the Chief Veterans
Experience Officer shall submit to the Secretary a summary of
the data received by the Chief Veterans Experience Officer
under subsection (c)(2).
``(2) Each year, not later than 180 days after the date on
which the Secretary receives the summary under paragraph (1),
the Secretary shall submit to Congress an annual summary and
analysis of the matters summarized pursuant to such
paragraph.
``(3) Each annual summary submitted pursuant to paragraph
(2) shall include the following:
``(A) Data regarding customer service and experience
feedback, disaggregated by benefit or service furnished under
laws administered by the Secretary, and relevant demographic
data of the veterans and beneficiaries providing the
feedback.
``(B) Data regarding veteran and beneficiary satisfaction
with and usage of benefits or services, disaggregated by
benefit or service furnished under laws administered by the
Secretary, and relevant demographic data of the veterans and
beneficiaries providing the feedback, including--
``(i) potential reasons for not using the benefits or
services, such as--
``(I) eligibility;
``(II) lack of knowledge or awareness of existence of
benefit or service;
``(III) barriers of technology, information, or time; and
``(IV) other related reasons; and
``(ii) an analysis of how such reasons may be addressed.
``(e) Staff and Resources.--(1) The Secretary shall ensure
that--
``(A) the Office has such staff, resources, and access to
customer service and experience information as may be
necessary to carry out the functions of the Office; and
``(B) any information provided to the Office does not
include personally identifiable information of an individual
veteran, survivor, dependent, or other beneficiary unless
such individual provides appropriate consent to allow such
information to be shared with the Office.
``(2) Funds available for basic pay and other
administrative expenses of other Department organizations and
offices may be available to reimburse the Office for all
services provided at rates which will recover actual costs
for services provided to such organizations if the Secretary
determines that contributing to such costs will not undermine
the ability of any such organization or office to provide
services required by such office.
``(3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
authorize an increase in the number of full-time employees
otherwise authorized for the Department.
``(f) Privacy.--Nothing in this section shall be construed
to authorize the Chief Veterans Experience Officer to
disclose any record in contravention of section 552a of title
5 (commonly referred to as the `Privacy Act of 1974').
``(g) Sunset.--The requirements and authorities of this
section shall terminate on September 30, 2028.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 3 of such title is amended by adding at
the end the following new item:
``325. Veterans Experience Office.''.
(c) Comptroller General of the United States Review of
Veterans Experience Office and Customer Service Improvement
Efforts.--Not later than 540 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall--
(1) complete an analysis of the methodology, effectiveness,
and implementation of findings and feedback of veterans and
beneficiaries used by the Department of Veterans Affairs,
including the Veterans Experience Office, to improve veteran
and beneficiary customer experience and satisfaction,
including through the use of what are known as ``trust-
scores'', Veteran Signals also known as ``VSignals'', and
related survey and data collection activities, processes, and
initiatives; and
(2) submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the
Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives a report setting forth the findings of the
Comptroller General with respect to the analysis completed
pursuant to paragraph (1).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Bost) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.
General Leave
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on
S. 423.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 423, introduced by my
colleague and fellow marine from across the Capitol, Senator Dan
Sullivan from Alaska.
S. 423 would require the Secretary of the VA to provide quarterly
briefings to Congress on the budget execution and any projected budget
shortfalls. It also creates new guardrails on the use of critical
skills incentive bonuses to make sure they only go to the employees
whom they are intended for.
Finally, it would codify the Veterans Experience Office to improve
the delivery of benefits to veterans and their beneficiaries.
These efforts already exist at the VA, and this legislation simply
makes these efforts permanent. This bill is a straightforward,
commonsense effort that partners with Secretary Collins and the Trump
administration to establish greater accountability and oversight of
career senior executives at the Department.
The need for this legislation comes in the wake of the critical
skills incentive payments scheme uncovered by my committee during the
last Congress. The days of waste, fraud, and abuse are over.
After the OIG identified over $10 million in improper critical skills
incentive payments awarded to VA executives, Congress recognized the
need for accountability. Let me be clear. I believe the VA employees
deserve to be recognized for the extraordinary work they do.
Critical skills incentive bonuses are useful tools for the VA to
attract talented staff who are dedicated to serving veterans. However,
some of these bonuses were as high as $100,000 for D.C. office staff
employees, more than double what a single veteran who is 100 percent
disabled would receive in an entire year.
Additionally, during the investigation, my staff identified employees
who
[[Page H3486]]
received these critical skills bonuses while they were under
investigation for misconduct at the VA.
Mr. Speaker, it is time to make sure this never happens again. I am
proud of the work done by my friend, Secretary Collins, and I believe
the PRO Veterans Act will support his mission to build up the VA's
workforce and put veterans first.
In addition to stopping the glut of critical skills payments from
going to executives, this legislation would require the VA to provide
in-person budget briefings to Congress every quarter for 3 years,
detailing the agency's financial projections and budget management
strategy.
After the Veterans Benefits Administration's shortfall crisis
manufactured by the Biden administration cost the government billions
of dollars, increasing the frequency of these conversations will help
Congress execute its constitutional oversight and appropriations
responsibilities.
While leadership in the Biden White House was replaced with the
veterans-first Trump administration by the American people, many of the
career VA employees who contributed to the crisis remain. Some of these
employees have operated far too long without scrutiny and with no
consequences for planning failures that total billions of dollars.
Without some ways of tying poor performance to outcomes for these
employees, what message does the business-as-usual status quo send to
rank-and-file employees?
When they hear of senior executives filling each other's pockets with
improper bonuses, what does that tell the frontline VA police officer,
the hospital housekeepers, and the food service staff?
It tells them that the efforts they bring to the job really don't
matter. It tells them that executives will score a nice bonus despite
terrible performance and that they are being held to a different
standard.
That is the wrong message to send to VA employees and to the veterans
who rely on the VA for lifesaving healthcare.
Now, I applaud both parties in this Congress and the current
administration for taking the right steps and working together to pass
this bill and begin the work of restoring that trust.
This is commonsense legislation that ensures the VA operates with
basic accountability and protects the future of benefits for our
veterans who have earned them.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support S. 423, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, openness and transparency in the budgeting process are
crucial to enabling Members of Congress to exercise our constitutional
power of the purse, conducting proper oversight and ensuring that we
are good stewards of the taxpayers' money.
That is why I have been extremely frustrated by the lack of budget
information put forward by the current administration. Just this week,
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in a statement
that was both insulting and condescending, said that ``it wasn't in our
interest'' to release a full budget plan to the American people.
Yet, we have not heard a peep of objection from my colleagues across
the aisle, not even a hint that they might rise from their knees after
having been browbeaten by this administration time and time again, and
stand up for the constitutional prerogatives of the United States
Congress, a coequal branch of government. In the context of this bill,
which was proposed to demand more budget information, it is
confounding.
Nevertheless, here we are. To understand why we are considering this
bill at this moment, we have to go back to last Congress and the end of
the Biden administration.
In mid-July 2024, the VA informed the committee of expected funding
shortfalls for the Veterans Benefits Administration and the Veterans
Health Administration. At the time, VBA was facing a projected
shortfall of $2.9 billion for fiscal year 2024, and VHA was facing a
potential shortfall of $12 billion for fiscal year 2025.
Now, out of an abundance of caution and to ensure veterans' benefits
weren't disrupted, Congress quickly passed H.R. 9468, the Veterans
Benefits Continuity and Accountability Supplemental Appropriations Act,
which provided VBA with additional funding of roughly $2.9 billion.
{time} 1500
The bill also included accountability measures that required
additional reporting by the Secretary and an inspector general review
of the circumstances surrounding the projected shortfalls.
A few weeks later, on October 30, 2024, VA notified the committee
that it had reviewed its calculations at the conclusion of fiscal year
2024 and determined that it would not have experienced a shortfall at
VBA, and, in fact, had carryover funding in addition to the funding
provided by the supplemental. VA also determined at the close of fiscal
year 2024 that its projected budget shortfall in fiscal year 2025 for
VHA would not be as significant as originally projected in July.
Its revised estimate for the fiscal year 2025 shortfall provided on
Monday, November 25, 2024, was $6.6 billion, much less than originally
projected. This was largely because of higher than expected carryover
and extreme belt-tightening at local VA clinics and hospitals.
However, here is where paths diverge. In the wake of the passage of
H.R. 9468, both VA's Office of Inspector General and the Government
Accountability Office conducted and released their respective reports
on the circumstances surrounding these real and projected shortfalls.
These reports though have become a bit of an inkblot test. Where I and
my Democratic colleagues see an accounting process that could be
improved, as all processes can be, my colleagues on the other side of
the aisle see criminal behavior and a malicious intent to deceive
Congress and scare veterans. I encourage the public to read these
reports and judge for themselves.
In one of the most egregious and politically naked overreactions I
have seen in some time, the chairman sent a letter to the Department of
Justice urging the Attorney General to investigate three former Biden
administration officials for criminal wrongdoing in handling last
year's budget shortfall. To say the least, I was shocked by this
letter. We thoroughly addressed VA budget issues last year, and neither
the inspector general nor GAO found any evidence of criminal
wrongdoing--none, Mr. Speaker.
So why call on Trump's Attorney General to revisit it? The answer
seems very clear to me: political payback. This was a spurious attempt
to tarnish the reputations of officials who led one of the most
successful periods in VA history, marked by high veteran satisfaction,
strong performance, and the largest expansion of veterans' benefits
ever, by way of the PACT Act.
Rather than hold President Trump and Secretary Collins accountable
for the ongoing decline at VA over the last several months, my
colleagues pushed a baseless investigation, a clear distraction meant
to deflect from the damage being done under their watch.
Nevertheless, more information is always better. As I said, we should
demand transparency from whatever administration is in charge. While I
find the impetus behind this bill to be retaliatory in nature, I do
agree with my majority colleagues that the Trump administration budget
formulation and execution process warrants scrutiny.
Secretary Collins has already broken the law by redirecting funds
without congressional approval. I worry that the trend will continue
over the next few years. I hope my colleagues will join me in rigorous
oversight of the Trump administration's approach to VA's budget.
There are two other provisions in this bill I would like to discuss
very briefly. This legislation would codify the Veterans Experience
Office, or VEO, which was first established during the Obama
administration. I appreciate that the Senate incorporated changes we
had suggested to their text that would strengthen the functions of VEO
so that it serves as an office truly focused on improving the veteran
experience with data-driven approaches.
Additionally, in the Honoring our PACT Act, Congress authorized VA to
utilize critical skills incentives to attract and retain the workforce
it needed to implement the largest expansion of veteran benefits in
recent history.
[[Page H3487]]
While use of those incentives has been overwhelmingly successful, VA
did make some initial missteps in oversight and utilization of the
awards for senior executives. These missteps were corrected during the
last administration. Despite what my colleague says about
investigations, the administration was quite forthcoming and
transparent about those missteps. The language in this legislation
would tighten the circumstances under which critical skills incentives
can be used to retain high-level VA employees.
While I am generally supportive of this additional oversight to
ensure these awards are being used appropriately, I continue to be
concerned with Secretary Collins' ability to recruit and retain the
top-level talent we need for caring for veterans at VA.
Earlier this month, Secretary Collins celebrated, celebrated that
30,000 VA employees will be departing the agency by the end of this
fiscal year under his tenure. Can you imagine that, Mr. Speaker? The
head of an organization was patting themselves on the back for making
their organization so toxic that nearly 10 percent of their workforce
quits? This is something to be proud of? It is unconscionable. What is
worse are the absurd assertions that veterans won't be negatively
affected by such drastic reductions.
There is simply no way that the delivery of veteran care and benefits
will not be affected by Secretary Collins' continued efforts to
demonize and demoralize the VA workforce.
Again, I am pleased to see that with this bill my colleagues have
finally decided to demand transparency from this administration. I wait
with bated breath for their reaction when the White House simply
chooses to ignore it, as they have repeatedly done with this Congress.
My suspicion is that we will continue to see my colleagues on the other
side of the aisle hide in fear of their master, but I would love to be
proven wrong.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time, and I
will take this time in closing to bring up a few things.
One, for the people listening to the rhetoric that came from the
other side of the aisle, they need to understand that the VA has
477,000 employees. With that massive amount of employees, over the last
several years, many of the jobs were not getting done correctly even
though we put out a lot of money and hired a lot of employees.
Secretary Collins has said that he will reduce staffing based on
attrition--attrition, mind you. We won't lose docs. We won't lose
nurses. We won't lose frontline workers. We will be good stewards of
the taxpayers' dollars.
So as the rhetoric comes from the other side on this administration
and the fact that when they were in the majority and it was the Biden
administration they didn't push for this legislation shows that it is
more about the politics than it is about taking care of our veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of our Members to support this bill, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, S. 423.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________