NJ votes in DC: GOP moves to alter VA benefits

WASHINGTON — On Veterans Day, the House of Representatives passed legislation to cut disability payments for future veterans of the U.S. armed forces, a maneuver that freed up funds to enhance the benefits paid to a group of existing beneficiaries.

Republicans, who will hold the majority until January, advanced the measure Wednesday by a voice vote after no Democrat objected — a procedural blunder by the minority that drew complaints of “trickery” and disgust from Democrats.

“We shouldn’t be taking from one group of veterans to give to another group of veterans,” Rep. Herb Conaway (D-3rd) said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News.

Conaway, New Jersey’s only lawmaker with a seat on the House Veterans Affairs committee. “We’re not going to rob Peter to pay Paul,” he said. “We want veterans to get their full benefit.”

After Wednesday’s squabble on the House floor, the chamber on Thursday morning easily passed — by a vote of 392-18 — a bipartisan bill to provide full benefits for medically disabled veterans, with all 12 New Jersey House members voting for the legislation. All 18 “no” votes came from Republicans.

The bill rewrites a section of U.S. law that requires veterans who have served fewer than 20 years to forgo part of their retirement pay when they also receive compensation for their disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Some 58,000 fit this category, according to the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan agency that advises Congress on economic policy. The increased compensation would amount to about $1,450 more per month per recipient, the CBO said.

The bill Republicans passed by voice vote on Veterans Day would pay for higher benefits by altering the rates at which the VA compensates veterans for conditions like tinnitus or sleep apnea. While those changes would not affect current beneficiaries, they would cut paid benefits for future veterans.

“One of the most common conditions that veterans seek benefits for is tinnitus,” or a ringing of the ears, said Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-11th) in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “They’re going to change the rules so that future veterans wouldn’t be covered.”

Both bills that have passed the House must also pass the Senate and receive President Donald Trump’s signature to become law.

Veterans in ‘real conflicts’ affected

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) was one of three Republicans who last summer joined with House Democrats to block the legislation the chamber passed on Wednesday. “Some of these guys have been in real conflicts, some of these guys dealing with PTSD and sleep apnea,” Van Drew said, noting his vote in July helped sink the bill at that time.

Van Drew and Reps. Chris Smith (R-4th) and Tom Kean Jr. (R-7th) were among the 60 Republicans — a little less than one-third of the now lame-duck GOP House majority — to vote Thursday morning for a procedural motion to force a floor vote on the more generous bill. All nine New Jersey Democrats voted for it, too.

Van Drew, who lost his re-election bid, said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News he did not understand why Republican leaders brought the bill he helped block to the floor when the underlying legislation had not been altered.

“I’ve never been in favor of helping one person but doing that and hurting others,” he said. “I want all our veterans to be winners and if you don’t agree with the way that the disability system is laid out, then perhaps the VA should review some of that.”

Another Democrat snafu

Wednesday’s voice vote marked the Democrats’ second procedural snafu this week. On Tuesday, 11 Democrats missed an impeachment vote on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, effectively tabling the matter until Democrats assume control of Congress next year.

Democrats said Republicans pulled Mark Takano, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and his staff away during floor debate so they could pass their bill and avoid Democratic objections.

“They knew they didn’t have the votes to pass the bill,” said Takano, a California lawmaker. “It is shameful and disgusting, and Republicans should be embarrassed.”

After passage, Cory Geisler, national commander-in-chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, condemned the House vote and the conditions surrounding it, including how Takano was called off the floor to discuss amendments to the bill.

“Playing political games with veterans’ benefits while avoiding public accountability is cowardly and dishonorable,” Geisler said in a statement. “This proposal should be dead on arrival in the Senate, sending an unmistakable message to every American serving in harm’s way that this country will honor its commitments to those who defend it.”

Mike Bost, the Illinois Republican who chairs the committee, said Democrats could have objected but were “asleep at the wheel.”