Funding Proposal Raises the Costs of Veterans Health Care, Hurts Military Readiness, and Worsens Quality of Life for Servicemembers and Their Families
WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Republicans released the 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which will be considered in the subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation fails to fully meet veterans’ needs and falls short of adequately funding military construction projects.
This bill:
- Worsens the quality of life for servicemembers and their families and hurts military readiness by funding military construction $904 million below what is needed.
- Enacts the Project 2025 goal to privatize medical care for veterans by transferring billions to private hospitals and clinics which will only lead to higher costs, longer wait times, poor communication and coordination, and diminished quality of care.
- Further limits women’s access to abortion, harming women veterans’ health.
- Leaves military installations, servicemembers, and their families vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and worsening natural disasters by failing to include dedicated funding to strength military installations against these threats.
- Does not fulfill the United States’ commitments to our allies by providing $188 million less than what is needed on NATO infrastructure.
- Undermines the ability to keep guns out of the hands of those prohibited under Federal law from purchasing or possessing firearms.
- Repeats the same extreme House Republican tactics attempted last year by including partisan changes to existing law, known as “riders,” that hurt Americans and create chaos. Once again, Republicans are disenfranchising veterans rather than making VA a welcoming and inclusive place for all those who volunteer to serve our country.
“This Republican bill would push our Veterans who sacrificed so much, towards Project 2025 privatized health care schemes and critically break with past PACT Act guaranteed funding commitments in the Toxic Exposures Fund (TEF) funding levels. When lowering costs for Americans should drive every decision we make, this bill needlessly fixates on keeping guns in the hands of those who are potentially a danger to themselves or others and restricts reproductive rights and other cruel and pointless policy restrictions. I cannot tell those currently serving and those who defended our nation that this is the best we can do, and therefore, I cannot support this bill,” Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25) said. “While it avoids deep, across the board cuts, it steers far too many resources into the privatized medical care account and away from vital, VA-based care and it leaves out guaranteed PACT Act funding for the TEF in FY2027, unlike past precedent. We can do far better, and Democrats are ready to do that. But this bill falls short of what our Veterans deserve.”
“While President Trump fires veterans and dismantles the services and programs across the federal government that they depend on, House Republicans have decided to proceed—business as usual—with 2026 funding bills. They have introduced a funding bill that does nothing to remedy the chaos and pain this administration has caused thousands of veterans and instead pushes extreme, partisan Project 2025 goals of privatizing veterans health services, only raising the costs of critical care. Once again, instead of being laser focused on the cost-of-living crisis, President Trump and House Republicans are actually making it worse,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “This bill falls short of honoring our commitment to veterans, servicemembers, and their families by underfunding military construction and leaving our military installations vulnerable to the impact of worsening natural disasters. Just like last year, this bill is built on a framework that harms veterans. Veterans rely on programs across the entire federal government. House Republicans’ proposal to slash critical domestic investments in other funding bills will strip away education, job opportunities, housing, and food assistance that veterans and their families depend on. House Republicans cannot claim to support veterans while making it harder for them to find jobs, feed their families, and keep roofs over their heads.”
A summary of House Republicans’ 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill is here. A fact sheet of the bill is here. The full text of the bill is here. The subcommittee markup will be webcast live and linked on the House Committee on Appropriations website.
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