Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2722 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2722
5	5	To limit the deferral or transfer of Federal funds made available to the
6	6	Department of Veterans Affairs, to limit layoffs and other personnel
7	7	actions at the Department, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	APRIL8, 2025
10	10	Mr. K
11	11	ENNEDYof New York (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. THANEDAR, Mrs.
12	12	D
13	13	INGELL, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. LANDSMAN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mrs. RAMI-
14	14	REZ, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. DAVISof Illinois, Mr. MANNION, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ,
15	15	Ms. W
16	16	ILLIAMSof Georgia, Mrs. MCIVER, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Mr. RUIZ, Ms.
17	17	S
18	18	EWELL, and Ms. CROCKETT) introduced the following bill; which was re-
19	19	ferred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
20	20	A BILL
21	21	To limit the deferral or transfer of Federal funds made
22	22	available to the Department of Veterans Affairs, to limit
23	23	layoffs and other personnel actions at the Department,
24	24	and for other purposes.
25	25	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
26	26	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
27	27	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
28	28	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Funding and 4
29	29	Workforce Protection Act’’. 5
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32	32	•HR 2722 IH
33	33	SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON DEFERRAL OR TRANSFER OF FED-1
34	34	ERAL FUNDS MADE AVAILABLE FOR DEPART-2
35	35	MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3
36	36	(a) I
37	37	NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-4
38	38	sion of law, including the Impoundment Control Act of 5
39	39	1974, discretionary appropriations made available for the 6
40	40	Department of Veterans Affairs (in this Act referred to 7
41	41	as the ‘‘Department’’), including the Veterans Health Ad-8
42	42	ministration, may not be impounded, transferred, or re-9
43	43	programmed unless specific statutory authority is enacted 10
44	44	into law after the date of the enactment of this Act, with 11
45	45	express reference to this Act, permitting such impound-12
46	46	ment, transfer, or reprogramming. 13
47	47	(b) N
48	48	OTIFICATION.—The Secretary of the Depart-14
49	49	ment of Veterans Affairs (in this Act referred to as the 15
50	50	‘‘Secretary’’) shall notify the Committees on Veterans’ Af-16
51	51	fairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate if 17
52	52	the Secretary determines that the Department is within 18
53	53	30 days of having a shortfall of funding. 19
54	54	SEC. 3. PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS FOR DEPARTMENT OF 20
55	55	VETERANS AFFAIRS. 21
56	56	(a) E
57	57	XEMPTIONFROMHIRINGFREEZE.—The De-22
58	58	partment shall be exempt from any hiring freeze issued 23
59	59	by the President, the Secretary, or the Director of the Of-24
60	60	fice of Personnel Management during the period beginning 25
61	61	on January 20, 2025, and ending on January 20, 2029. 26
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64	64	•HR 2722 IH
65	65	(b) REINSTATEMENT OF VETERANS.—With respect 1
66	66	to any veteran (as that term is defined in section 101 of 2
67	67	title 38, United States Code) who was a career employee 3
68	68	of the Department and whom the Secretary removed from 4
69	69	employment with the Department during the period begin-5
70	70	ning on January 20, 2025, and ending on the date of the 6
71	71	enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 7
72	72	(1) reinstate such veteran to the position (or 8
73	73	equivalent position) such veteran occupied on the 9
74	74	date that is one day before the date of removal; and 10
75	75	(2) exempt such veteran from separation under 11
76	76	any reduction in force that occurs before January 12
77	77	20, 2029. 13
78	78	(c) L
79	79	IMITATION ONLAYOFFS.— 14
80	80	(1) I
81	81	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit 15
82	82	written notice, to the Committees on Veterans’ Af-16
83	83	fairs of the House of Representatives and the Sen-17
84	84	ate, not later than 15 days before the date that the 18
85	85	Department will remove any officer or employee 19
86	86	under a reduction in force or an agency reorganiza-20
87	87	tion. 21
88	88	(2) P
89	89	ROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES .— 22
90	90	(A) I
91	91	N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 23
92	92	other provision of law, no employee of the De-24
93	93	partment in probationary status may be re-25
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96	96	•HR 2722 IH
97	97	moved from a position at the Department with-1
98	98	out the enactment into law after the date of the 2
99	99	enactment of this section, with express ref-3
100	100	erence to this section, permitting such removal. 4
101	101	(B) N
102	102	OTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 5
103	103	submit to Congress— 6
104	104	(i) on the date the Secretary removes 7
105	105	a probationary employee for poor perform-8
106	106	ance, a report that includes the reasons for 9
107	107	the removal, the employee’s most recent 10
108	108	performance appraisal, and the removal 11
109	109	notice submitted to the employee; and 12
110	110	(ii) not later than 30 days after the 13
111	111	date of the enactment of this Act and 14
112	112	every 30 days thereafter, a list of any pro-15
113	113	bationary employees at the Department 16
114	114	that received a removal notice during the 17
115	115	period covered by the report. 18
116	116	SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE. 19
117	117	Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-20
118	118	ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 21
119	119	shall certify (in writing), to the Committees on Appropria-22
120	120	tions of the House of Representatives and the Senate and 23
121	121	the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep-24
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124	124	•HR 2722 IH
125	125	resentatives and the Senate, that the Secretary is in com-1
126	126	pliance with the requirements of this Act. 2
127	127	Æ
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