Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1068 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1068
5	5	To amend title 5 and title 38, United States Code, to put veteran and
6	6	military families first and to provide protections for employees, benefits,
7	7	and programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other
8	8	purposes.
9	9	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
10	10	MARCH13, 2025
11	11	Mr. B
12	12	LUMENTHAL(for himself, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. GILLI-
13	13	BRAND, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. CORTEZMASTO, Mr.
14	14	S
15	15	CHIFF, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. HIRONO,
16	16	Mr. K
17	17	ELLY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr.
18	18	L
19	19	UJA´N, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. VANHOLLEN) intro-
20	20	duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com-
21	21	mittee on Veterans’ Affairs
22	22	A BILL
23	23	To amend title 5 and title 38, United States Code, to put
24	24	veteran and military families first and to provide protec-
25	25	tions for employees, benefits, and programs of the De-
26	26	partment of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
28	28	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
29	29	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
30	30	(a) S
31	31	HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
32	32	‘‘Putting Veterans First Act of 2025’’. 5
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36	36	(b) TABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1
37	37	this Act is as follows: 2
38	38	Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
39	39	Sec. 2. Definitions.
40	40	TITLE I—PUTTING VETERAN AND MILITARY FAMILIES FIRST
41	41	Sec. 101. Reinstatement of members of the military community who were Fed-
42	42	eral employees.
43	43	Sec. 102. Protection for members of the military community who were Federal
44	44	employees.
45	45	Sec. 103. Report on members of the military community in the civil service.
46	46	Sec. 104. Comptroller General report on military community employment.
47	47	TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS EMPLOYEES
48	48	Subtitle A—Protections
49	49	Sec. 201. Limitations on hiring freezes at Department of Veterans Affairs.
50	50	Sec. 202. Limitations on closing offices at Department of Veterans Affairs.
51	51	Sec. 203. Limitations on changes to telework and remote work at Department
52	52	of Veterans Affairs.
53	53	Sec. 204. Limitations on changes to final job offers at Department of Veterans
54	54	Affairs.
55	55	Subtitle B—Reporting
56	56	Sec. 205. Notice and justification required before reduction in force at Depart-
57	57	ment of Veterans Affairs.
58	58	Sec. 206. Department of Veterans Affairs personnel reporting.
59	59	Sec. 207. Department of Veterans Affairs research personnel reporting.
60	60	Sec. 208. Prohibition on individuals serving as Secretary of Veterans Affairs
61	61	from also serving as heads of other Federal agencies.
62	62	Sec. 209. Office of Special Counsel.
63	63	Sec. 210. Office of Government Ethics.
64	64	Subtitle C—Restoring Accountability and Services
65	65	Sec. 211. Report on effects of removing essential programs, offices, and services
66	66	from Department of Veterans Affairs.
67	67	Sec. 212. Restoring Department of Veterans Affairs programs, offices, and
68	68	services affected since the beginning of the second Trump Ad-
69	69	ministration.
70	70	TITLE III—PROTECTIONS FOR CIVIL SERVANTS
71	71	Sec. 301. Nominations to Merit Systems Protection Board.
72	72	Sec. 302. Modifications to appeal rights for probationary employees.
73	73	Sec. 303. Authority to retract offers and contracts relating to deferred resigna-
74	74	tions.
75	75	Sec. 304. Limitation on changes to competitive service categories of positions.
76	76	TITLE IV—MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR CIVIL SERVANTS
77	77	Sec. 401. Mental health services.
78	78	Sec. 402. Mental health services for current civil servants.
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82	82	TITLE V—EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE FOR CIVIL SERVANTS
83	83	Sec. 501. Employment assistance.
84	84	Sec. 502. Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Labor work
85	85	on employment opportunities for members of the military com-
86	86	munity.
87	87	TITLE VI—DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY
88	88	Sec. 601. Limitation on access to veteran and department information, systems,
89	89	and data.
90	90	Sec. 602. Limitation on application of certain Executive Orders relating to De-
91	91	partment of Government Efficiency at Department of Veterans
92	92	Affairs.
93	93	Sec. 603. Report on compliance with limitation on access to veteran and De-
94	94	partment of Veterans Affairs information, systems, and data
95	95	and Inspector General review.
96	96	TITLE VII—FINANCIAL NEEDS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
97	97	VETERANS AFFAIRS
98	98	Sec. 701. Definition; rule of construction.
99	99	Sec. 702. Report on financial effect of the Department of Government Effi-
100	100	ciency on the Department of Veterans Affairs.
101	101	Sec. 703. Reinstatement of contracts and review of mass contract cancellations.
102	102	Sec. 704. Limitations on mass contract cancellations.
103	103	Sec. 705. Charge card program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
104	104	TITLE VIII—REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
105	105	Sec. 801. Requirement for Veterans Benefits Administration Monday Morning
106	106	Workload Report.
107	107	Sec. 802. Improvements regarding periodic publication of metrics relating to
108	108	processing of appeals.
109	109	Sec. 803. Publication of wait times for community care from Department of
110	110	Veterans Affairs.
111	111	Sec. 804. Period for Secretary of Veterans Affairs to respond to questions sub-
112	112	mitted by members of certain congressional committees.
113	113	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
114	114	1
115	115	In this Act: 2
116	116	(1) A
117	117	GENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 3
118	118	meaning given that term in section 3330d of title 5, 4
119	119	United States Code. 5
120	120	(2) C
121	121	AREGIVER.—The term ‘‘caregiver’’ means 6
122	122	an adult family member or other individual who has 7
123	123	a significant relationship with, and who provides a 8
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127	127	broad range of assistance to, a wounded, ill, injured, 1
128	128	or disabled member of the Armed Forces or veteran 2
129	129	or a dependent of such a member or veteran with a 3
130	130	chronic or other health condition, disability, or func-4
131	131	tional limitation. 5
132	132	(3) C
133	133	IVIL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘civil service’’ 6
134	134	has the meaning given that term in section 2101 of 7
135	135	title 5, United States Code. 8
136	136	(4) D
137	137	EMOTION.—The term ‘‘demotion’’ means 9
138	138	a reduction in grade (as defined in section 7511(a) 10
139	139	of title 5, United States Code). 11
140	140	(5) M
141	141	EMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES .—The 12
142	142	term ‘‘member of the armed forces’’ has the mean-13
143	143	ing given that term in 315.612(b)(4) of title 5, Code 14
144	144	of Federal Regulations, or any successor thereto. 15
145	145	(6) M
146	146	ILITARY SPOUSE.—The term ‘‘military 16
147	147	spouse’’ means— 17
148	148	(A) the husband or wife of a member of 18
149	149	the armed forces; 19
150	150	(B) the husband or wife of a retired, to-20
151	151	tally disabled, or separated member of the 21
152	152	armed forces; or 22
153	153	(C) the widow or widower of a member of 23
154	154	the armed forces killed while performing active 24
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158	158	duty or who died from a service-connected in-1
159	159	jury or illness. 2
160	160	(7) R
161	161	EMOVAL.—The term ‘‘removal’’ means re-3
162	162	moving an individual from the civil service. 4
163	163	(8) R
164	164	ESERVE COMPONENT .—The term ‘‘reserve 5
165	165	component’’ has the meaning given that term in sec-6
166	166	tion 101 of title 38, United States Code. 7
167	167	(9) S
168	168	USPENSION.—The term ‘‘suspension’’ 8
169	169	means the placing an individual in a temporary sta-9
170	170	tus without duties and pay for a period of longer 10
171	171	than 7 days. 11
172	172	(10) S
173	173	URVIVOR.—The term ‘‘survivor’’ means a 12
174	174	family member of a member of the armed forces or 13
175	175	veteran who died while on active duty or after mili-14
176	176	tary retirement or of a service-connected injury or 15
177	177	illness. 16
178	178	(11) V
179	179	ETERAN.— 17
180	180	(A) I
181	181	N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 18
182	182	subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘veteran’’ means a 19
183	183	person who served on active duty as a member 20
184	184	of the armed forces, regardless of length of 21
185	185	service, and who was discharged or released 22
186	186	therefrom. 23
187	187	(B) E
188	188	XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ 24
189	189	does not include a person who— 25
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193	193	(i) received a dishonorable discharge 1
194	194	from the Armed Forces; or 2
195	195	(ii) was discharged or dismissed from 3
196	196	the Armed Forces by reason of the sen-4
197	197	tence of a general court-martial. 5
198	198	TITLE I—PUTTING VETERAN 6
199	199	AND MILITARY FAMILIES FIRST 7
200	200	SEC. 101. REINSTATEMENT OF MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY 8
201	201	COMMUNITY WHO WERE FEDERAL EMPLOY-9
202	202	EES. 10
203	203	(a) I
204	204	NGENERAL.—Any removal, demotion, or sus-11
205	205	pension of a veteran, military spouse, caregiver, survivor, 12
206	206	or member of a reserve component who was serving in a 13
207	207	position in the civil service that occurred during the period 14
208	208	beginning on January 20, 2025, and ending on the date 15
209	209	of enactment of this Act shall have no force or effect. 16
210	210	(b) B
211	211	ACKPAY ANDRESUMPTION OF BENEFITS.— 17
212	212	Any person whose removal, demotion, or suspension is ren-18
213	213	dered without force or effect under subsection (a) shall— 19
214	214	(1) receive back pay for any pay not received by 20
215	215	the person during the period beginning on the date 21
216	216	of the removal, suspension, or demotion and ending 22
217	217	on the date of enactment of this Act; and 23
218	218	(2) have benefits restored, retroactive to the 24
219	219	date of the removal, demotion, or suspension. 25
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223	223	(c) ELECTIONTORESIGN.—At the election of a per-1
224	224	son whose removal, demotion, or suspension is rendered 2
225	225	without force or effect under subsection (a), at any time 3
226	226	after the date of enactment of this Act, the person may 4
227	227	resign from the position of the person in the civil service, 5
228	228	which shall not affect the obligation to provide back pay 6
229	229	or the resumption of benefits with respect to the period 7
230	230	beginning on the date of the removal, demotion, or suspen-8
231	231	sion and ending on the date of enactment of this Act. 9
232	232	SEC. 102. PROTECTION FOR MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY 10
233	233	COMMUNITY WHO WERE FEDERAL EMPLOY-11
234	234	EES. 12
235	235	(a) I
236	236	NGENERAL.—Any veteran, military spouse, 13
237	237	caregiver, survivor, or member of a reserve component who 14
238	238	is in a position in the civil service may not be removed, 15
239	239	demoted, or suspended— 16
240	240	(1) as a part of a group of more than 5 persons 17
241	241	who are being removed, demoted, or suspended on 18
242	242	the same day by the agency employing the persons; 19
243	243	(2) without providing a notification to the di-20
244	244	rect supervisor of the veteran, military spouse, care-21
245	245	giver, survivor, or member of a reserve component 22
246	246	not less than 10 business days before the removal, 23
247	247	demotion, or suspension, unless the supervisor ad-24
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251	251	vises or approves the removal, demotion, or suspen-1
252	252	sion; 2
253	253	(3) on the basis of performance, unless the vet-3
254	254	eran, military spouse, caregiver, survivor, or member 4
255	255	of a reserve component has received at least 1 per-5
256	256	formance rating at or below level 2 or minimally sat-6
257	257	isfactory (or a similar equivalent level) during the 1- 7
258	258	year period ending on the date of the removal, demo-8
259	259	tion, or suspension; or 9
260	260	(4) if the removal, demotion, or suspension 10
261	261	would result in a greater than 50 percent vacancy 11
262	262	rate for the office or position of the veteran, military 12
263	263	spouse, caregiver, survivor, or member of a reserve 13
264	264	component or a significant reduction or elimination 14
265	265	of the duties being carried out by the veteran, mili-15
266	266	tary spouse, caregiver, survivor, or member of a re-16
267	267	serve component, without approval by the direct su-17
268	268	pervisor of the veteran, military spouse, caregiver, 18
269	269	survivor, or member of a reserve component. 19
270	270	(b) R
271	271	EVIEW.—Not later than 10 days after the date 20
272	272	of the removal, demotion, or suspension of any veteran, 21
273	273	military spouse, caregiver, survivor, or member of a re-22
274	274	serve component in a position the civil service, the re-23
275	275	moval, demotion, or suspension shall be referred to the 24
276	276	Merit Systems Protection Board or the Office of Special 25
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280	280	Counsel, unless the individual agrees to waive the right 1
281	281	to such a referral. 2
282	282	SEC. 103. REPORT ON MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY COMMU-3
283	283	NITY IN THE CIVIL SERVICE. 4
284	284	Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 5
285	285	of this Act, and not later than 90 days after the end of 6
286	286	each fiscal year thereafter, each agency shall submit to 7
287	287	the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the Committee on 8
288	288	Armed Services, the Committee on Appropriations, and 9
289	289	the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 10
290	290	Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af-11
291	291	fairs, the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee 12
292	292	on Appropriations, and the Committee on Homeland Secu-13
293	293	rity of the House of Representatives the following informa-14
294	294	tion: 15
295	295	(1) The number of veterans, military spouses, 16
296	296	caregivers, survivors, and members of a reserve com-17
297	297	ponent who, during the prior fiscal year— 18
298	298	(A) were hired by the agency, 19
299	299	disaggregated by those who were serving at a 20
300	300	different agency immediately before being hired 21
301	301	by the agency and those hired from outside the 22
302	302	Federal Government; 23
303	303	(B) separated from service with the agen-24
304	304	cy, disaggregated by those who were hired by 25
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308	308	another agency and those who were not hired 1
309	309	by another agency; or 2
310	310	(C) were removed by the agency. 3
311	311	(2) The number of veterans, military spouses, 4
312	312	caregivers, survivors, and members of a reserve com-5
313	313	ponent who, as of the end of the prior fiscal year, 6
314	314	were employed by the agency. 7
315	315	(3) Data regarding any directed efforts or in-8
316	316	centives utilized to recruit or retain veterans, mili-9
317	317	tary spouses, caregivers, survivors, and members of 10
318	318	a reserve component during the prior fiscal year. 11
319	319	(4) For the second report under this section, 12
320	320	and each report thereafter, data on changes to the 13
321	321	number of veterans, military spouses, caregivers, 14
322	322	survivors, or members of a reserve component hired 15
323	323	by, separated from, or were employed by the agency, 16
324	324	as compared to the most recent report. 17
325	325	SEC. 104. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON MILITARY 18
326	326	COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT. 19
327	327	Not later than April 1, 2027, the Comptroller Gen-20
328	328	eral of the United States shall submit to the Committee 21
329	329	on Veterans’ Affairs, the Committee on Appropriations, 22
330	330	the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on 23
331	331	Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen-24
332	332	ate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the Com-25
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336	336	mittee on Appropriations, the Committee on Armed Serv-1
337	337	ices, and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 2
338	338	House of Representatives and publicly issue a report re-3
339	339	garding employment of military community members by 4
340	340	the Federal Government, which shall— 5
341	341	(1) include a review of employment of veterans, 6
342	342	military spouses, caregivers, survivors, and members 7
343	343	of a reserve component by the Federal Government 8
344	344	during fiscal years 2024 and 2025; 9
345	345	(2) review the period of service in positions in 10
346	346	the civil service by veterans, military spouses, care-11
347	347	givers, survivors, and members of a reserve compo-12
348	348	nent and the rate of removal, suspension, or demo-13
349	349	tion of veterans, military spouses, caregivers, sur-14
350	350	vivors, and members of a reserve component from 15
351	351	positions in the civil service, as compared to other 16
352	352	individuals in positions in the civil service; and 17
353	353	(3) describe any changes in employment of vet-18
354	354	erans, military spouses, caregivers, survivors, and 19
355	355	members of a reserve component across agencies be-20
356	356	tween the end of fiscal year 2024 and the end of fis-21
357	357	cal year 2025. 22
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361	361	TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF 1
362	362	VETERANS AFFAIRS EMPLOYEES 2
363	363	Subtitle A—Protections 3
364	364	SEC. 201. LIMITATIONS ON HIRING FREEZES AT DEPART-4
365	365	MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 5
366	366	(a) L
367	367	IMITATION.—Neither a position nor an employee 6
368	368	at the Department of Veterans Affairs may be subject to 7
369	369	a hiring freeze, hiring prohibition, or similar policy— 8
370	370	(1) unless the Secretary determines that un-9
371	371	filled positions or lack of staff subject to such a 10
372	372	freeze will not result in increased costs to the De-11
373	373	partment; and 12
374	374	(2) until the date that is 90 days after the date 13
375	375	that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs submits a re-14
376	376	port regarding the hiring freeze pursuant to sub-15
377	377	section (b). 16
378	378	(b) R
379	379	EPORT.—Before issuing any hiring freeze, hir-17
380	380	ing prohibition, or similar policy, the Secretary of Vet-18
381	381	erans Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ 19
382	382	Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af-20
383	383	fairs of the House of Representatives a report on the hir-21
384	384	ing strategy of the Secretary and budgetary proof that 22
385	385	such a freeze, hiring prohibition, or similar policy will not 23
386	386	cause increased costs to the Department. 24
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390	390	SEC. 202. LIMITATIONS ON CLOSING OFFICES AT DEPART-1
391	391	MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 2
392	392	(a) P
393	393	ROHIBITION.—The Secretary of Veterans Af-3
394	394	fairs may not remove, close, or realign any office or pro-4
395	395	gram of the Department of Veterans Affairs except pursu-5
396	396	ant to a provision of law that specifically authorizes such 6
397	397	removal, closure, or realignment. 7
398	398	(b) N
399	399	OTIFICATIONREQUIRED.—Whenever the Sec-8
400	400	retary removes, closes, or realigns an office or program 9
401	401	of the Department, the Secretary shall, not later than 1 10
402	402	year before the date on which the Secretary commences 11
403	403	such removal, closure, or realignment, submit to the Com-12
404	404	mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com-13
405	405	mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representa-14
406	406	tives notice of the intent of the Secretary to carry out such 15
407	407	removal, closure, or realignment. 16
408	408	(c) A
409	409	SSISTANCE FORDISPLACEDEMPLOYEES.—In 17
410	410	any case in which an employee of the Department is dis-18
411	411	placed by the removal, closure, or realignment of an office 19
412	412	or program of the Department, the Secretary shall make 20
413	413	a significant effort to find another employment oppor-21
414	414	tunity for the employee within the Department. 22
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418	418	SEC. 203. LIMITATIONS ON CHANGES TO TELEWORK AND 1
419	419	REMOTE WORK AT DEPARTMENT OF VET-2
420	420	ERANS AFFAIRS. 3
421	421	(a) N
422	422	OTICEREQUIRED.—The Secretary of Veterans 4
423	423	Affairs may not take any action to change to a telework 5
424	424	or remote work policy of the Department of Veterans Af-6
425	425	fairs until after the date that is 1 year after the date on 7
426	426	which the Secretary— 8
427	427	(1) submits to the Committee on Veterans’ Af-9
428	428	fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ 10
429	429	Affairs of the House of Representatives notice of the 11
430	430	intent of the Secretary to take such action or make 12
431	431	such change; and 13
432	432	(2) transmits notice of such intent to the fol-14
433	433	lowing: 15
434	434	(A) Labor organizations that represent em-16
435	435	ployees of the Department. 17
436	436	(B) The employees of the Department who 18
437	437	would be affected by such action or change. 19
438	438	(b) E
439	439	NFORCEMENT.—A violation of subsection (a) 20
440	440	against an employee of the Department of Veterans Af-21
441	441	fairs shall be treated, under section 505 of the Rehabilita-22
442	442	tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794a), as a violation of sec-23
443	443	tion 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 24
444	444	791) against an aggrieved employee described in sub-25
445	445	section (a) of that section. 26
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449	449	SEC. 204. LIMITATIONS ON CHANGES TO FINAL JOB OF-1
450	450	FERS AT DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-2
451	451	FAIRS. 3
452	452	(a) L
453	453	IMITATIONS.—The Secretary of Veterans Af-4
454	454	fairs may not rescind or make any change to a final offer 5
455	455	of employment with the Department of Veterans Affairs 6
456	456	for any reason that is not directly related to an action 7
457	457	or quality of the individual to whom the offer of employ-8
458	458	ment was extended. 9
459	459	(b) R
460	460	EMEDIES.—A rescission or change made in vio-10
461	461	lation of subsection (a) may be appealed to the Merit Sys-11
462	462	tems Protection Board in accordance with the procedures 12
463	463	under section 7701 of title 5, United States Code. 13
464	464	Subtitle B—Reporting 14
465	465	SEC. 205. NOTICE AND JUSTIFICATION REQUIRED BEFORE 15
466	466	REDUCTION IN FORCE AT DEPARTMENT OF 16
467	467	VETERANS AFFAIRS. 17
468	468	(a) I
469	469	NGENERAL.—Not later than 180 days before 18
470	470	commencing any effort to carry out a reduction in force, 19
471	471	or similar action under a different name, at the Depart-20
472	472	ment of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Veterans Af-21
473	473	fairs shall submit a justification for the reduction in force 22
474	474	or similar action to the following: 23
475	475	(1) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and 24
476	476	the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 25
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480	480	(2) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and 1
481	481	the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 2
482	482	Representatives. 3
483	483	(3) The labor organizations that represent em-4
484	484	ployees of the Department. 5
485	485	(4) Each employee of the Department who will 6
486	486	be affected by the reduction in force or similar ac-7
487	487	tion. 8
488	488	(b) C
489	489	ONTENTS.—Each justification submitted pursu-9
490	490	ant to subsection (a) for a reduction in force or similar 10
491	491	action shall include the following: 11
492	492	(1) For each employee or position that will be 12
493	493	terminated pursuant to the reduction in force or 13
494	494	similar action, the following: 14
495	495	(A) Documentation and analysis used to 15
496	496	determine that the termination will not reduce 16
497	497	or negatively affect delivery of care or benefits 17
498	498	for veterans. 18
499	499	(B) Documentation and analysis used to 19
500	500	determine that the termination will not cost the 20
501	501	Department or the Federal Government more 21
502	502	than if the Department were to retain the posi-22
503	503	tion or employee. 23
504	504	(C) Cost estimate, strategic plan, analysis, 24
505	505	and any other relevant information or docu-25
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508	508	•S 1068 IS
509	509	mentation the Secretary used to determine the 1
510	510	need to terminate the employee or position. 2
511	511	(2) The planned timeline for the reduction in 3
512	512	force or similar action and the methodology the Sec-4
513	513	retary will use to track the actual effects of the re-5
514	514	duction in force or similar action. 6
515	515	(3) Options for changing the plans of the Sec-7
516	516	retary and a strategy should an unexpected negative 8
517	517	impact to veterans occur from the planned actions. 9
518	518	SEC. 206. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PER-10
519	519	SONNEL REPORTING. 11
520	520	(a) I
521	521	NGENERAL.—Section 505 of the John S. 12
522	522	McCain III, Daniel K. Akaka, and Samuel R. Johnson VA 13
523	523	Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Inte-14
524	524	grated Outside Networks Act of 2018 (Public Law 115– 15
525	525	182; 38 U.S.C. 301 note) is amended— 16
526	526	(1) in subsection (a)— 17
527	527	(A) in paragraph (1)— 18
528	528	(i) in the matter before subparagraph 19
529	529	(A), by striking ‘‘information,’’ and all 20
530	530	that follows through ‘‘facility:’’ and insert-21
531	531	ing ‘‘information:’’; 22
532	532	(ii) in subparagraph (B)— 23
533	533	(I) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘The 24
534	534	number’’; and 25
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537	537	•S 1068 IS
538	538	(II) by adding at the end the fol-1
539	539	lowing new clause: 2
540	540	‘‘(ii) Information made available under this 3
541	541	subparagraph shall be updated not less fre-4
542	542	quently than once each quarter to account for 5
543	543	delays in data processing and shall reflect the 6
544	544	most recently available data.’’; 7
545	545	(iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 8
546	546	‘‘vacancies, by occupation.’’ and inserting 9
547	547	‘‘positions currently undergoing a recruit-10
548	548	ment action, disaggregated by occupation 11
549	549	and by stage of recruitment, including 12
550	550	Manager Request Initiation Stage, recruit-13
551	551	ment stage, onboarding stage, and waiting 14
552	552	to start stage, or successor stages if modi-15
553	553	fied.’’; 16
554	554	(iv) in subparagraph (E)(iii), by strik-17
555	555	ing ‘‘potential hires or’’; and 18
556	556	(v) by adding at the end the following 19
557	557	new subparagraph: 20
558	558	‘‘(F) The number of positions vacated dur-21
559	559	ing the quarter for which the Department has 22
560	560	not initiated a recruitment action, including the 23
561	561	date the position was vacated, disaggregated by 24
562	562	occupation.’’; 25
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566	566	(B) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 1
567	567	paragraph (6); 2
568	568	(C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 3
569	569	following new paragraph (5): 4
570	570	‘‘(5) D
571	571	ISPLAY OF INFORMATION .—The display 5
572	572	of information made publicly available on an internet 6
573	573	website of the Department pursuant to paragraph 7
574	574	(1), shall be disaggregated— 8
575	575	‘‘(A) by departmental component; 9
576	576	‘‘(B) in the case of information relating to 10
577	577	Veterans Health Administration positions, by 11
578	578	medical facility; and 12
579	579	‘‘(C) in the case of information relating to 13
580	580	Veterans Benefits Administration positions, by 14
581	581	regional office.’’; and 15
582	582	(D) in paragraph (6), as redesignated by 16
583	583	subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘shall’’ and all 17
584	584	that follows and inserting ‘‘shall— 18
585	585	‘‘(A) review the administration of the 19
586	586	website required under paragraph (1); 20
587	587	‘‘(B) develop recommendations relating to 21
588	588	the improvement of such administration; and 22
589	589	‘‘(C) submit to the Committee on Vet-23
590	590	erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 24
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593	593	•S 1068 IS
594	594	on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Represent-1
595	595	atives a report containing— 2
596	596	‘‘(i) the findings of the Inspector Gen-3
597	597	eral with respect to the most recent review 4
598	598	conducted under subparagraph (A); and 5
599	599	‘‘(ii) the recommendations most re-6
600	600	cently developed under subparagraph 7
601	601	(B).’’; and 8
602	602	(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol-9
603	603	lows: 10
604	604	‘‘(b) A
605	605	NNUALREPORT.—Each year, the Secretary 11
606	606	shall submit to Congress an annual report that includes 12
607	607	the following: 13
608	608	‘‘(1) A description of the steps the Department 14
609	609	is taking to achieve full staffing capacity. 15
610	610	‘‘(2) A description of the actions the Depart-16
611	611	ment is taking to improve the onboard timeline for 17
612	612	facilities of the Department, including— 18
613	613	‘‘(A) in the case of facilities of the Vet-19
614	614	erans Health Administration, for facilities for 20
615	615	which the duration of the onboarding process 21
616	616	exceeds the metrics laid out in the Time to Hire 22
617	617	Model of the Veterans Health Administration, 23
618	618	or successor model; and 24
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622	622	‘‘(B) in the case of the Veterans Benefits 1
623	623	Administration, for regional offices that exceed 2
624	624	the time-to-hire target of the Office of Per-3
625	625	sonnel Management. 4
626	626	‘‘(3) The amount of additional funds necessary 5
627	627	to enable the Department to reach full staffing ca-6
628	628	pacity. 7
629	629	‘‘(4) Such recommendations for legislative or 8
630	630	administrative action as the Secretary may have in 9
631	631	order to achieve full staffing capacity at the Depart-10
632	632	ment.’’. 11
633	633	(b) E
634	634	FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 12
635	635	subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact-13
636	636	ment of this Act and shall apply with respect to the first 14
637	637	update under section 505(a)(3) of such Act beginning 15
638	638	after the date of the enactment of this Act and each up-16
639	639	date thereafter. 17
640	640	SEC. 207. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS RESEARCH 18
641	641	PERSONNEL REPORTING. 19
642	642	Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-20
643	643	ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 21
644	644	submit to Congress a report that includes— 22
645	645	(1) the number of Department of Veterans Af-23
646	646	fairs research employees who were terminated from 24
647	647	the Department since January 20, 2025; 25
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651	651	(2) the number of Department research employ-1
652	652	ees who had their term limits shortened since Janu-2
653	653	ary 20, 2025; and 3
654	654	(3) a list of the research studies the employees 4
655	655	described in paragraphs (1) and (2) were working 5
656	656	on. 6
657	657	SEC. 208. PROHIBITION ON INDIVIDUALS SERVING AS SEC-7
658	658	RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FROM ALSO 8
659	659	SERVING AS HEADS OF OTHER FEDERAL 9
660	660	AGENCIES. 10
661	661	(a) I
662	662	NGENERAL.—Section 303 of title 38, United 11
663	663	States Code, is amended— 12
664	664	(1) by striking ‘‘There is’’ and inserting the fol-13
665	665	lowing: 14
666	666	‘‘(a) I
667	667	NGENERAL.—There is’’; and 15
668	668	(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-16
669	669	sections: 17
670	670	‘‘(b) P
671	671	ROHIBITION.— 18
672	672	‘‘(1) I
673	673	N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 19
674	674	provision of law, including any provision of sub-20
675	675	chapter III of chapter 33 of title 5, an individual 21
676	676	who is serving as the Secretary, regardless of wheth-22
677	677	er such service is pursuant to an appointment made 23
678	678	by and with the advice and consent of the Senate or 24
679	679	such service is in an acting capacity, may not serve 25
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682	682	•S 1068 IS
683	683	as the head of any other Executive agency, either 1
684	684	pursuant to an appointment made by and with the 2
685	685	advice and consent of the Senate or in an acting ca-3
686	686	pacity, while serving as the Secretary. 4
687	687	‘‘(2) E
688	688	FFECT OF NONCOMPLIANCE .— 5
689	689	‘‘(A) R
690	690	EMOVAL FROM OFFICE .—An indi-6
691	691	vidual serving as the Secretary who is not in 7
692	692	compliance with subsection (a) is hereby re-8
693	693	moved from the position of Secretary. 9
694	694	‘‘(B) P
695	695	ROHIBITION ON CERTAIN AC -10
696	696	TIONS.—An individual removed from the posi-11
697	697	tion of Secretary by subparagraph (A) may not 12
698	698	issue orders, guidance, direct any people or re-13
699	699	sources, or in any other manner carry out any 14
700	700	of the functions of the Secretary. 15
701	701	‘‘(C) T
702	702	REATMENT OF ORDERS , GUIDANCE, 16
703	703	AND DIRECTION.—Any order, guidance, or di-17
704	704	rection of people or resources or any other lead-18
705	705	ership action issued by an individual who was 19
706	706	removed from the position of Secretary by sub-20
707	707	paragraph (A) and that was issued on or after 21
708	708	the date of such removal shall be considered un-22
709	709	lawful. 23
710	710	‘‘(c) D
711	711	EFINITION OFEXECUTIVEAGENCY.—In this 24
712	712	section, the term ‘Executive agency’ has the meaning 25
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716	716	given such term in section 105 of title 5 and includes the 1
717	717	Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Special 2
718	718	Counsel, but does not include any advisory committee (as 3
719	719	such term is defined in section 1001 of title 5).’’. 4
720	720	(b) E
721	721	FFECTIVEDATE.—Subsections (b) and (c) of 5
722	722	section 303 of such title, as added by subsection (a), shall 6
723	723	take effect on the date that is 7 days after the date of 7
724	724	the enactment of this Act. 8
725	725	(c) R
726	726	EPORT.— 9
727	727	(1) I
728	728	N GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 10
729	729	the date specified in subsection (b), the most senior 11
730	730	career individual in the Office of the General Coun-12
731	731	sel of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall sub-13
732	732	mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 14
733	733	Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 15
734	734	the House of Representatives a report on compliance 16
735	735	with the provisions of this Act. 17
736	736	(2) C
737	737	ONTENTS.—The report submitted pursu-18
738	738	ant to paragraph (1) shall include the following: 19
739	739	(A) Documentation as to whether the Sec-20
740	740	retary of Veterans Affairs is in compliance with 21
741	741	section 303(b) of title 38, United States Code, 22
742	742	as added by subsection (a). 23
743	743	(B) A description of the procedures in ef-24
744	744	fect to reestablish firewalls, conflict of interest 25
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747	747	•S 1068 IS
748	748	protections, and independence requirements at 1
749	749	the Department of Veterans Affairs. 2
750	750	(C) An affirmation that the Department of 3
751	751	Veterans Affairs will comply with and respect 4
752	752	the independent oversight and investigative 5
753	753	power of the Office of Special Counsel, the Of-6
754	754	fice of Government Ethics, the Merit Systems 7
755	755	Protection Board, the Government Account-8
756	756	ability Office, the Office of Inspector General of 9
757	757	the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Fed-10
758	758	eral Labor Relations Board, and all other rel-11
759	759	evant investigatory and audit bodies. 12
760	760	SEC. 209. OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL. 13
761	761	Section 1211(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 14
762	762	amended by striking the sixth sentence and inserting the 15
763	763	following: ‘‘The Special Counsel, including any individual 16
764	764	serving as the Special Counsel in an acting capacity, may 17
765	765	not hold another office or position in the Government of 18
766	766	the United States while serving as the Special Counsel. 19
767	767	Notwithstanding any provision of subchapter III of chap-20
768	768	ter 33, if the Special Counsel dies, resigns, or is otherwise 21
769	769	unable to perform the functions and duties of the office, 22
770	770	the most senior career attorney serving in the Office of 23
771	771	General Counsel of the Office of Special Counsel, as of 24
772	772	the date of the death, resignation, or beginning of inability 25
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776	776	to serve, shall serve as the Special Counsel until an indi-1
777	777	vidual is appointed by the President as the Special Coun-2
778	778	sel in accordance with this subsection.’’. 3
779	779	SEC. 210. OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 4
780	780	Section 13121(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 5
781	781	amended— 6
782	782	(1) by striking ‘‘There shall’’ and inserting the 7
783	783	following: 8
784	784	‘‘(1) I
785	785	N GENERAL.—There shall’’; and 9
786	786	(2) by adding at the end the following: 10
787	787	‘‘(2) R
788	788	EMOVAL OR TRANSFER .—The Director 11
789	789	may only be removed from office by the President 12
790	790	for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in 13
791	791	office. 14
792	792	‘‘(3) R
793	793	ESTRICTION ON HOLDING OTHER OF -15
794	794	FICES.—The Director, including any individual serv-16
795	795	ing as the Director in an acting capacity, may not 17
796	796	hold another office or position in the Government of 18
797	797	the United States while serving as the Director. 19
798	798	‘‘(4) A
799	799	BSENCE OR UNAVAILABILITY OF DIREC -20
800	800	TOR.—Notwithstanding any provision of subchapter 21
801	801	III of chapter 33, if the Director dies, resigns, or is 22
802	802	otherwise unable to perform the function and duties 23
803	803	of the office, the most senior career individual serv-24
804	804	ing in the office of the Chief of Staff of the Office 25
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808	808	of Government Ethics, as of the date of the death, 1
809	809	resignation, or beginning of inability to serve, shall 2
810	810	serve as the Director until an individual is appointed 3
811	811	by the President as the Director in accordance with 4
812	812	this subsection.’’. 5
813	813	Subtitle C—Restoring 6
814	814	Accountability and Services 7
815	815	SEC. 211. REPORT ON EFFECTS OF REMOVING ESSENTIAL 8
816	816	PROGRAMS, OFFICES, AND SERVICES FROM 9
817	817	DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 10
818	818	(a) R
819	819	EPORTREQUIRED.—Not later than 30 days 11
820	820	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 12
821	821	shall submit to Congress a report on the effects of remov-13
822	822	ing essential programs, offices, and services from the De-14
823	823	partment of Veterans Affairs during the period beginning 15
824	824	on January 20, 2025, and ending on the date of the enact-16
825	825	ment of this Act. 17
826	826	(b) C
827	827	ONTENTS.—The report submitted pursuant to 18
828	828	subsection (a) shall include, for the period covered by the 19
829	829	report, the following: 20
830	830	(1) A description of all offices or programs ei-21
831	831	ther reorganized, renamed, shut down, or reduced. 22
832	832	(2) Position titles of individuals either termi-23
833	833	nated or placed on leave, disaggregated by which of-24
834	834	fice they were housed in. 25
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838	838	(3) A list of all websites, pamphlets, fliers, re-1
839	839	ports, photographs, or other public-facing documents 2
840	840	removed. 3
841	841	(4) A detailed description of how accessibility of 4
842	842	Department facilities and websites has been affected, 5
843	843	for both veterans and Department employees. 6
844	844	(5) A list of any Department research projects 7
845	845	cancelled or postponed. 8
846	846	(6) A list of all Department employee-facing 9
847	847	documents or trainings removed from intranet sites. 10
848	848	(7) A list of all events cancelled or postponed 11
849	849	by the Department. 12
850	850	(8) For each of paragraphs (1) through (7), a 13
851	851	justification for why each action was taken. 14
852	852	SEC. 212. RESTORING DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-15
853	853	FAIRS PROGRAMS, OFFICES, AND SERVICES 16
854	854	AFFECTED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE 17
855	855	SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. 18
856	856	(a) R
857	857	ESTORINGDEPARTMENT OF VETERANSAF-19
858	858	FAIRS.— 20
859	859	(1) I
860	860	N GENERAL.—Any removal, demotion, or 21
861	861	suspension of a Department of Veterans Affairs em-22
862	862	ployee during the period beginning on January 20, 23
863	863	2025, and ending on the date of the enactment of 24
864	864	this Act shall be considered null and void. 25
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868	868	(2) BACKPAY AND RESUMPTION OF BENE -1
869	869	FITS.—A person subject to a removal, demotion, or 2
870	870	suspension described in paragraph (1) shall be eligi-3
871	871	ble for backpay and resumption of benefits. 4
872	872	(3) R
873	873	ESIGNATIONS.—A person described in 5
874	874	paragraph (2) who does not wish to be restored to 6
875	875	a position from which the person was removed, de-7
876	876	moted, or suspended as described in paragraph (1) 8
877	877	may resign from the position as they so choose. 9
878	878	(b) P
879	879	UBLICATION OF CERTAINMATERIALS AND 10
880	880	W
881	881	EBSITES.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall com-11
882	882	mence publishing all materials and websites described in 12
883	883	section 211(b). 13
884	884	(c) N
885	885	ULLIFICATION OF CANCELLATION OR POST-14
886	886	PONEMENT OF CERTAINRESEARCHPROJECTS.—The 15
887	887	cancellation or postponement of any research projects dur-16
888	888	ing the period beginning on January 20, 2025, and ending 17
889	889	on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be consid-18
890	890	ered null and void. 19
891	891	(d) W
892	892	ITHDRAWAL OF CERTAINDIRECTIVERELAT-20
893	893	ING TOFLAGS.—The Secretary shall withdraw the Feb-21
894	894	ruary 12, 2025 directive of the Secretary entitled ‘‘Public 22
895	895	Display or Depiction of Flags throughout Department of 23
896	896	Veterans Affairs (VA) Facilities’’. 24
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900	900	TITLE III—PROTECTIONS FOR 1
901	901	CIVIL SERVANTS 2
902	902	SEC. 301. NOMINATIONS TO MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION 3
903	903	BOARD. 4
904	904	Subchapter I of chapter 12 of title 5, United States 5
905	905	Code, is amended in section 1202, by adding at the end 6
906	906	the following: 7
907	907	‘‘(e) Not later than 30 days after the date on which 8
908	908	a vacancy on the Merit Systems Protection Board occurs 9
909	909	(whether before or at the end of a term of office of a mem-10
910	910	ber), the President shall appoint an individual to fill that 11
911	911	vacancy.’’. 12
912	912	SEC. 302. MODIFICATIONS TO APPEAL RIGHTS FOR PROBA-13
913	913	TIONARY EMPLOYEES. 14
914	914	Section 7701(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 15
915	915	amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by in-16
916	916	serting ‘‘(including, notwithstanding any other provision 17
917	917	of law, an employee who is in a probationary period)’’. 18
918	918	SEC. 303. AUTHORITY TO RETRACT OFFERS AND CON-19
919	919	TRACTS RELATING TO DEFERRED RESIGNA-20
920	920	TIONS. 21
921	921	(a) A
922	922	UTHORITY.—Any offer or contract relating to 22
923	923	deferred resignation commitment accepted or entered into 23
924	924	by an employee in a position in the civil service may be 24
925	925	nullified by the employee (without penalty) at any time 25
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929	929	until the close of business on the last day of the employ-1
930	930	ment of the employee by the agency employing the em-2
931	931	ployee. 3
932	932	(b) R
933	933	EMEDY.—A violation of subsection (a) may be 4
934	934	appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board in ac-5
935	935	cordance with the procedures under section 7701 of title 6
936	936	5, United States Code, or challenged in a court of com-7
937	937	petent jurisdiction. 8
938	938	SEC. 304. LIMITATION ON CHANGES TO COMPETITIVE 9
939	939	SERVICE CATEGORIES OF POSITIONS. 10
940	940	(a) L
941	941	IMITATION.—A position in the civil service may 11
942	942	not be shifted, realigned, or removed from a competitive 12
943	943	service category to an excepted service category— 13
944	944	(1) unless— 14
945	945	(A) the employee who current fills the posi-15
946	946	tion agrees to such a shift; or 16
947	947	(B) the position is vacant; or 17
948	948	(2) until the date that is 2 years after the date 18
949	949	on which the head of the agency employing the em-19
950	950	ployee has given notice to the employee and sub-20
951	951	mitted to Congress notice of such a shift, realign-21
952	952	ment, or removal. 22
953	953	(b) R
954	954	EMEDY.—A violation of subsection (a) may be 23
955	955	appealed to the Merit Systems Protection Board in ac-24
956	956	cordance with the procedures under section 7701 of title 25
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960	960	5, United States Code, or reviewed by a court of com-1
961	961	petent jurisdiction. 2
962	962	TITLE IV—MENTAL HEALTH 3
963	963	CARE FOR CIVIL SERVANTS 4
964	964	SEC. 401. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. 5
965	965	The agency that currently employs, or most recently 6
966	966	employed, a veteran, military spouse, caregiver, survivor, 7
967	967	or member of a reserve component serving in a position 8
968	968	in the civil service who is removed, demoted, or suspended 9
969	969	on or after January 20, 2025, shall reimburse the veteran, 10
970	970	military spouse, caregiver, survivor, or member of a re-11
971	971	serve component for the cost of all mental health services 12
972	972	provided during the 90-day period beginning on the date 13
973	973	of the removal, demotion, or suspension. 14
974	974	SEC. 402. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CURRENT CIVIL 15
975	975	SERVANTS. 16
976	976	(a) V
977	977	ETCENTERS.—The Secretary of Veterans Af-17
978	978	fairs shall deploy a mobile Vet Center to the office of any 18
979	979	agency that, on or after January 20, 2025, removes, sus-19
980	980	pends, or demotes a group of more than 5 veterans, mili-20
981	981	tary spouses, caregivers, survivors, or members of a re-21
982	982	serve component on any day, for use by any current or 22
983	983	former employees of the agency who are a veteran, mili-23
984	984	tary spouse, caregiver, survivor, or member of a reserve 24
985	985	component. 25
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989	989	(b) FUNDING.—Subject to the availability of appro-1
990	990	priations, until February 1, 2030, an agency may not re-2
991	991	duce the amount of funds spent, contracts, staff, or pro-3
992	992	gramming related to mental health counseling services, fi-4
993	993	nancial and legal services, dependent care services, work-5
994	994	place conflict resolution services, cultural competency serv-6
995	995	ices, substance use treatment services, crisis intervention 7
996	996	services, or employee assistance programs below the levels 8
997	997	as of January 5, 2025. 9
998	998	TITLE V—EMPLOYMENT ASSIST-10
999	999	ANCE FOR CIVIL SERVANTS 11
1000	1000	SEC. 501. EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE. 12
1001	1001	The President shall order measures to provide em-13
1002	1002	ployment assistance and opportunities for veterans, mili-14
1003	1003	tary spouses, caregivers, survivors, and members of a re-15
1004	1004	serve component who are removed, demoted, or suspended 16
1005	1005	from civil service on or after January 20, 2025. 17
1006	1006	SEC. 502. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AND THE 18
1007	1007	DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WORK ON EMPLOY-19
1008	1008	MENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEMBERS OF 20
1009	1009	THE MILITARY COMMUNITY. 21
1010	1010	The Director of the Office of Personnel Management 22
1011	1011	and the Secretary of Labor shall— 23
1012	1012	(1) work with the heads of other agencies to ex-24
1013	1013	pand and facilitate the use of Federal programs, hir-25
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1017	1017	ing and training opportunities, and retention incen-1
1018	1018	tives for veterans, military spouses, caregivers, sur-2
1019	1019	vivors, and members of a reserve component; 3
1020	1020	(2) seek to develop partnerships with firms in 4
1021	1021	the private sector to enhance employment opportuni-5
1022	1022	ties for veterans, military spouses, caregivers, sur-6
1023	1023	vivors, and members of a reserve component, includ-7
1024	1024	ing to provide for improved job portability for such 8
1025	1025	individuals; 9
1026	1026	(3) work with the United States Chamber of 10
1027	1027	Commerce and other appropriate private-sector enti-11
1028	1028	ties to facilitate the formation of such partnerships; 12
1029	1029	and 13
1030	1030	(4) examine and seek ways for incorporating 14
1031	1031	hiring preferences for veterans, military spouses, 15
1032	1032	caregivers, survivors, and members of a reserve com-16
1033	1033	ponent into contracts between an agency and 1 or 17
1034	1034	more private sector entities. 18
1035	1035	TITLE VI—DEPARTMENT OF 19
1036	1036	GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY 20
1037	1037	SEC. 601. LIMITATION ON ACCESS TO VETERAN AND DE-21
1038	1038	PARTMENT INFORMATION, SYSTEMS, AND 22
1039	1039	DATA. 23
1040	1040	(a) L
1041	1041	IMITATIONS.— 24
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1045	1045	(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 1
1046	1046	57 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 2
1047	1047	adding at the end of the following new section: 3
1048	1048	‘‘§ 5729. Limitations on access to certain information, 4
1049	1049	systems, and data 5
1050	1050	‘‘(a) I
1051	1051	NGENERAL.—The Secretary may not allow any 6
1052	1052	individual to use, exercise administrative control over, or 7
1053	1053	otherwise access any Department information technology 8
1054	1054	system, health or benefits data repository, contracting in-9
1055	1055	formation, financial system, record system, or other rel-10
1056	1056	evant system, or any data from any such system, unless— 11
1057	1057	‘‘(1) such individual is an officer, employee, or 12
1058	1058	contractor of the Department; and 13
1059	1059	‘‘(2) in the case of an individual not described 14
1060	1060	in paragraph (1)— 15
1061	1061	‘‘(A) such individual holds a security clear-16
1062	1062	ance at the appropriate level with respect to 17
1063	1063	such system or data and such clearance was 18
1064	1064	granted pursuant to the procedures established 19
1065	1065	under section 801 of the National Security Act 20
1066	1066	of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3161); 21
1067	1067	‘‘(B) such individual’s access to such sys-22
1068	1068	tem or data, or use thereof, does not constitute 23
1069	1069	a violation of section 208 of title 18 (deter-24
1070	1070	mined after the application of subsection (b)); 25
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1074	1074	‘‘(C) such individual is not a special Gov-1
1075	1075	ernment employee (as defined in section 202 of 2
1076	1076	title 18); 3
1077	1077	‘‘(D) such individual’s current continuous 4
1078	1078	service in the civil service (as that term is de-5
1079	1079	fined in section 2101 of title 5) as of the date 6
1080	1080	of such access is for a period of not less than 7
1081	1081	one year; 8
1082	1082	‘‘(E) such individual has completed any re-9
1083	1083	quired training or compliance procedures with 10
1084	1084	respect to privacy laws, cybersecurity regula-11
1085	1085	tions, national security regulations, and best 12
1086	1086	practices; and 13
1087	1087	‘‘(F) has signed a written ethics agreement 14
1088	1088	with either the senior career Designated Agency 15
1089	1089	Ethics Official of the Department, or the most 16
1090	1090	senior career official within the Office of Gov-17
1091	1091	ernment Ethics. 18
1092	1092	‘‘(b) T
1093	1093	REATMENT OF INDIVIDUALSWHOARENOT 19
1094	1094	O
1095	1095	FFICERS OREMPLOYEES OF EXECUTIVEBRANCH OF 20
1096	1096	F
1097	1097	EDERALGOVERNMENT.—(1) Any individual who ac-21
1098	1098	cesses any system or data described in subsection (a) who 22
1099	1099	is not otherwise an officer or employee of the executive 23
1100	1100	branch of the Federal Government shall be treated as an 24
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1103	1103	•S 1068 IS
1104	1104	employee of the executive branch of the United States 1
1105	1105	Government for purposes of section 208 of title 18. 2
1106	1106	‘‘(2) For purposes of such section 208, exercise of 3
1107	1107	administrative control or stopping, canceling, adjusting, 4
1108	1108	holding, rejecting, changing, or otherwise impacting any 5
1109	1109	payment or data in any Department system, data reposi-6
1110	1110	tory, or other similar location, shall be considered personal 7
1111	1111	and substantial participation as a Government officer or 8
1112	1112	employee in a particular matter. 9
1113	1113	‘‘(c) D
1114	1114	EFINITION OFOTHERRELEVANTSYSTEM.— 10
1115	1115	In this section, the term ‘other relevant system’ means any 11
1116	1116	data, system, connection, database, repository, or any 12
1117	1117	other tangible thing of the Department that stores infor-13
1118	1118	mation of the Department, veterans, surviving spouses, 14
1119	1119	caregivers, or other recipients of health care or benefits 15
1120	1120	under laws administered by the Secretary, including 16
1121	1121	health data, personally identifiable information, protected 17
1122	1122	health information, burial data information, contract data, 18
1123	1123	the Corporate Data Warehouse of the Department, data 19
1124	1124	regarding benefits provided to veterans, financial trans-20
1125	1125	action and bank information, Department of Veterans Af-21
1126	1126	fairs Integrated Enterprise Workflow Solution system and 22
1127	1127	data, payroll information, research and development data, 23
1128	1128	and data that is part of the Million Veteran Program.’’. 24
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1132	1132	(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT .—The table of sec-1
1133	1133	tions at the beginning of chapter 57 of such title is 2
1134	1134	amended by inserting after section 5728 the fol-3
1135	1135	lowing new section: 4
1136	1136	‘‘5729. Limitations on access to certain information, systems, and data.’’.
1137	1137	(b) DELETION OFIMPROPERLYOBTAINEDDATA.— 5
1138	1138	In any action brought against the Department of Veterans 6
1139	1139	Affairs or a recipient agency or other recipient in a court 7
1140	1140	of competent jurisdiction for a violation of subsection (b) 8
1141	1141	or (e) of section 552a of title 5, United States Code, the 9
1142	1142	court may order the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the re-10
1143	1143	cipient agency, or other recipient to delete records improp-11
1144	1144	erly disclosed or maintained in a system of records in vio-12
1145	1145	lation of the rules and regulations set out pursuant to such 13
1146	1146	section. 14
1147	1147	(c) R
1148	1148	EMOVAL OFCONNECTIONS.—Not later than 15 15
1149	1149	days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-16
1150	1150	retary of Veterans Affairs shall remove any information 17
1151	1151	technology connection between the Department and any 18
1152	1152	entity not in compliance with the provisions of this section 19
1153	1153	or section 5729 of title 38, United States Code, as added 20
1154	1154	by subsection (a). 21
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1158	1158	SEC. 602. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF CERTAIN EXEC-1
1159	1159	UTIVE ORDERS RELATING TO DEPARTMENT 2
1160	1160	OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AT DEPART-3
1161	1161	MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 4
1162	1162	Executive Order 14158 (90 Fed. Reg. 8441; relating 5
1163	1163	to establishing and implementing the President’s Depart-6
1164	1164	ment of Government Efficiency), Executive Order 14210 7
1165	1165	(90 Fed. Reg. 9669; relating to implementing the Presi-8
1166	1166	dent’s ‘‘Department of Government Efficiency’’ workforce 9
1167	1167	optimization initiative), Executive Order 14219 (90 Fed. 10
1168	1168	Reg. 10583; relating to ensuring lawful governance and 11
1169	1169	implementing the President’s ‘‘Department of Govern-12
1170	1170	ment Efficiency’’ deregulatory initiative), and Executive 13
1171	1171	Order 14222 (90 Fed. Reg. 11095; relating to imple-14
1172	1172	menting the President’s ‘‘Department of Government Effi-15
1173	1173	ciency’’ cost efficiency initiative) shall not apply as it re-16
1174	1174	lates to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the Depart-17
1175	1175	ment of Veterans Affairs. 18
1176	1176	SEC. 603. REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH LIMITATION ON 19
1177	1177	ACCESS TO VETERAN AND DEPARTMENT OF 20
1178	1178	VETERANS AFFAIRS INFORMATION, SYSTEMS, 21
1179	1179	AND DATA AND INSPECTOR GENERAL RE-22
1180	1180	VIEW. 23
1181	1181	(a) R
1182	1182	EPORT ONCOMPLIANCE.—Not later than 30 24
1183	1183	days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-25
1184	1184	retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee 26
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1188	1188	on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 1
1189	1189	Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 2
1190	1190	on the compliance of the Department of Veterans Affairs 3
1191	1191	with the provisions of this section and section 5729 of title 4
1192	1192	38, United States Code, as added by section 601(a), in-5
1193	1193	cluding with respect to removal of connections pursuant 6
1194	1194	to section 601(c) and the removal of relevant employees 7
1195	1195	and their credentials from all Department systems, prem-8
1196	1196	ises, and networks consistent with the such sections. 9
1197	1197	(b) I
1198	1198	NSPECTORGENERALREVIEW.— 10
1199	1199	(1) R
1200	1200	EVIEW.—Not later than 10 days of after 11
1201	1201	the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector 12
1202	1202	General of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall 13
1203	1203	initiate a review on any instance of unauthorized use 14
1204	1204	or other access of systems described in section 15
1205	1205	5729(a) of title 38, United States Code, as added by 16
1206	1206	section 601(a), that has occurred during the period 17
1207	1207	beginning on November 6, 2024, and ending on the 18
1208	1208	date of the enactment of this Act. 19
1209	1209	(2) P
1210	1210	RELIMINARY BRIEFING .—Not later than 20
1211	1211	90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 21
1212	1212	the Inspector General shall provide the Committee 22
1213	1213	on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com-23
1214	1214	mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep-24
1215	1215	resentatives a preliminary briefing on the findings of 25
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1219	1219	the Inspector General with respect to the review ini-1
1220	1220	tiated pursuant to paragraph (1). 2
1221	1221	(3) F
1222	1222	INAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 3
1223	1223	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the In-4
1224	1224	spector General shall submit to the Committee on 5
1225	1225	Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 6
1226	1226	on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 7
1227	1227	a final report on— 8
1228	1228	(A) the findings of the Inspector General 9
1229	1229	with respect to the review initiated pursuant to 10
1230	1230	paragraph (1); and 11
1231	1231	(B) such recommendations for administra-12
1232	1232	tive or legislative action as the Inspector Gen-13
1233	1233	eral may have as a result of such findings. 14
1234	1234	(4) C
1235	1235	ONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 15
1236	1236	this subsection shall include the following: 16
1237	1237	(A) a detailed description of the unauthor-17
1238	1238	ized use or access, including any actions the in-18
1239	1239	dividual or individuals carried out; 19
1240	1240	(B) a risk assessment of any threat to pri-20
1241	1241	vacy, contracting and financial information, 21
1242	1242	protected veteran health and disability informa-22
1243	1243	tion, national security, cybersecurity, or the in-23
1244	1244	tegrity of the applicable system as a result of 24
1245	1245	such unauthorized use or access; and 25
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1249	1249	(C) a detailed description of any stopped 1
1250	1250	benefits, health care delivery, or other services 2
1251	1251	of the Department of Veterans Affairs during 3
1252	1252	the unauthorized use or access. 4
1253	1253	TITLE VII—FINANCIAL NEEDS 5
1254	1254	OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 6
1255	1255	VETERANS AFFAIRS 7
1256	1256	SEC. 701. DEFINITION; RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 8
1257	1257	(a) M
1258	1258	ASSCONTRACTCANCELLATIONDEFINED.—In 9
1259	1259	this title, the term ‘‘mass contract cancellation’’ means the 10
1260	1260	termination by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of— 11
1261	1261	(1) five or more contracts in a single business 12
1262	1262	day; or 13
1263	1263	(2) ten or more contracts in a five-business-day 14
1264	1264	period. 15
1265	1265	(b) R
1266	1266	ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 16
1267	1267	shall be construed to prevent the Secretary of Veterans 17
1268	1268	Affairs from cancelling individual contracts for poor per-18
1269	1269	formance, fraud, breach of contract, or other reasons in 19
1270	1270	accordance with applicable law, including the Federal Ac-20
1271	1271	quisition Regulation. 21
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1275	1275	SEC. 702. REPORT ON FINANCIAL EFFECT OF THE DEPART-1
1276	1276	MENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY ON THE 2
1277	1277	DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3
1278	1278	(a) I
1279	1279	NGENERAL.—Not less frequently than once 4
1280	1280	each quarter until September 30, 2029, the Secretary of 5
1281	1281	Veteran Affairs shall submit to the appropriate commit-6
1282	1282	tees of Congress a report detailing the estimated costs as-7
1283	1283	sociated with or attributed to policy changes prompted by 8
1284	1284	the Department of Government Efficiency or the Presi-9
1285	1285	dent since January 20, 2025. 10
1286	1286	(b) C
1287	1287	OSTS.—Each report required by subsection (a) 11
1288	1288	shall account for the following: 12
1289	1289	(1) The cancellation of any contracts and po-13
1290	1290	tential litigation to resolve related matters. 14
1291	1291	(2) The wrongful termination of employees and 15
1292	1292	any settlements. 16
1293	1293	(3) The need to hire contracted providers or 17
1294	1294	staff to backfill vacant roles. 18
1295	1295	(4) Such other matters as the Secretary of Vet-19
1296	1296	erans Affairs considers appropriate. 20
1297	1297	(c) A
1298	1298	PPROPRIATECOMMITTEES OF CONGRESSDE-21
1299	1299	FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit-22
1300	1300	tees of Congress’’ means— 23
1301	1301	(1) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 24
1302	1302	Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 25
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1306	1306	(2) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 1
1307	1307	Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep-2
1308	1308	resentatives. 3
1309	1309	SEC. 703. REINSTATEMENT OF CONTRACTS AND REVIEW OF 4
1310	1310	MASS CONTRACT CANCELLATIONS. 5
1311	1311	(a) R
1312	1312	EINSTATEMENT; PAUSE; REVIEW.— 6
1313	1313	(1) I
1314	1314	N GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 7
1315	1315	Affairs— 8
1316	1316	(A) shall reinstate each contract cancelled 9
1317	1317	in a mass contract cancellation during the pe-10
1318	1318	riod beginning on January 20, 2025, and end-11
1319	1319	ing on the date of the enactment of this Act; 12
1320	1320	(B) shall pause any mass contract can-13
1321	1321	cellation in progress as of the date of the enact-14
1322	1322	ment of this Act; and 15
1323	1323	(C) shall not commence any mass contract 16
1324	1324	cancellation unless— 17
1325	1325	(i) each condition described in para-18
1326	1326	graph (2) is met; and 19
1327	1327	(ii) the requirements of section 704 20
1328	1328	are fulfilled. 21
1329	1329	(2) C
1330	1330	ONDITIONS.—The conditions described in 22
1331	1331	this paragraph are the following: 23
1332	1332	(A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has 24
1333	1333	reviewed all contracts cancelled or proposed to 25
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1337	1337	be cancelled during the period beginning on 1
1338	1338	January 20, 2025 and ending on April 30, 2
1339	1339	2025. 3
1340	1340	(B) The Secretary has submitted to Con-4
1341	1341	gress a report on the reviews conducted under 5
1342	1342	subparagraph (A), including, for each contract 6
1343	1343	reviewed, a certification by the Secretary and 7
1344	1344	career head of each relevant administration or 8
1345	1345	office of the Department of Veterans Affairs 9
1346	1346	that canceling the contract has not or will not 10
1347	1347	affect any of the following: 11
1348	1348	(i) The delivery of health care, bene-12
1349	1349	fits, and memorial services to veterans. 13
1350	1350	(ii) Safety and cleanliness of any facil-14
1351	1351	ity of the Department, including surgical 15
1352	1352	suites. 16
1353	1353	(iii) The ability of the Department to 17
1354	1354	prevent and detect waste, fraud, and 18
1355	1355	abuse. 19
1356	1356	(iv) Medical research carried out by 20
1357	1357	the Department. 21
1358	1358	(v) Cyber and information security. 22
1359	1359	(vi) Planning, delivery, and mainte-23
1360	1360	nance for infrastructure, leasing, and con-24
1361	1361	struction. 25
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1365	1365	(vii) Homelessness services, including 1
1366	1366	prevention and housing. 2
1367	1367	(viii) Cancer research and care. 3
1368	1368	(ix) Memorial services. 4
1369	1369	(x) Claims processing and retrieval 5
1370	1370	and digitization of records. 6
1371	1371	(xi) Veteran-directed care. 7
1372	1372	(xii) Payments and program oversight 8
1373	1373	for educational assistance under laws ad-9
1374	1374	ministered by the Secretary of Veterans 10
1375	1375	Affairs. 11
1376	1376	(xiii) Medical supplies. 12
1377	1377	(xiv) Mental health and suicide pre-13
1378	1378	vention. 14
1379	1379	(xv) Implementation of the Sergeant 15
1380	1380	First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our 16
1381	1381	Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics 17
1382	1382	Act of 2022 (Public Law 117–168) (com-18
1383	1383	monly known as the ‘‘PACT Act’’). 19
1384	1384	(xvi) Radiology services. 20
1385	1385	(xvii) Pharmacy services. 21
1386	1386	(xviii) Prosthetics services. 22
1387	1387	(xix) The Transition Assistance Pro-23
1388	1388	gram. 24
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1392	1392	(xx) The Home Loan Guaranty Pro-1
1393	1393	gram of the Department. 2
1394	1394	(xxi) Police and security services pro-3
1395	1395	vided by the Department. 4
1396	1396	(xxii) Emergency response, including 5
1397	1397	the ‘‘Fourth Mission’’ of the Department. 6
1398	1398	(xxiii) Veterans employment. 7
1399	1399	(xxiv) The disposal of waste, including 8
1400	1400	hazardous waste. 9
1401	1401	(xxv) Any other critical service, func-10
1402	1402	tion, or operation of the Department, in-11
1403	1403	cluding those required by statute. 12
1404	1404	(C) The Secretary has submitted to Con-13
1405	1405	gress a report that sets forth a day-by-day 14
1406	1406	timeline of how the effort to carry out mass 15
1407	1407	contract cancellations was initiated, led, and 16
1408	1408	unfolded, including the following: 17
1409	1409	(i) An identification of each of the fol-18
1410	1410	lowing: 19
1411	1411	(I) Who directed the effort to 20
1412	1412	begin and the date on which such di-21
1413	1413	rection took place. 22
1414	1414	(II) The parameters of the effort. 23
1415	1415	(III) Whether the Department 24
1416	1416	was provided with a dollar number 25
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1420	1420	target to meet for ‘‘savings’’ or wheth-1
1421	1421	er officials of the Department deter-2
1422	1422	mined the amount of savings desired. 3
1423	1423	(IV) The search terms used to 4
1424	1424	select contracts for cancellation. 5
1425	1425	(V) Who led the contract review 6
1426	1426	process. 7
1427	1427	(VI) The specific individuals who 8
1428	1428	reviewed the justifications to defend 9
1429	1429	the merits of each contract. 10
1430	1430	(VII) The data and fact-based 11
1431	1431	criteria used to decide which contracts 12
1432	1432	should be cancelled based on the re-13
1433	1433	view of the defense of those contracts 14
1434	1434	prepared by career officials. 15
1435	1435	(VIII) Whether any contracts 16
1436	1436	were removed from the initial list of 17
1437	1437	contracts to be cancelled prior to that 18
1438	1438	list being finalized. 19
1439	1439	(IX) The criteria used to develop 20
1440	1440	the list of contracts announced for 21
1441	1441	termination on March 3, 2025. 22
1442	1442	(ii) An estimate developed by the 23
1443	1443	Chief Financial Officer or the Assistant 24
1444	1444	Secretary for Management of the Depart-25
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1448	1448	ment of the cost expended by employees of 1
1449	1449	the Department to respond to data calls 2
1450	1450	and contract justification exercises during 3
1451	1451	the period beginning on January 20, 2025 4
1452	1452	and ending on April 30, 2025. 5
1453	1453	(iii) A list of contracts cancelled dur-6
1454	1454	ing the period described in clause (ii) that 7
1455	1455	were subsequently restored, and any costs 8
1456	1456	paid by the Department to the contractor 9
1457	1457	to mitigate the temporary cancellation, in-10
1458	1458	cluding legal fees. 11
1459	1459	(iv) For each contract that was can-12
1460	1460	celled, an estimated cost for the work to be 13
1461	1461	performed by government personnel and an 14
1462	1462	identification of the part of the Depart-15
1463	1463	ment those personnel will come from con-16
1464	1464	sidering the ongoing partial hiring freeze 17
1465	1465	and reduction in force efforts of the De-18
1466	1466	partment, including those outlined in the 19
1467	1467	Departmental memorandum dated March 20
1468	1468	4, 2025, and entitled ‘‘Department of Vet-21
1469	1469	erans Affairs Agency Reduction in Force 22
1470	1470	(RIF) and Reorganization Plan (ARRP)’’. 23
1471	1471	(b) I
1472	1472	NSPECTORGENERALREVIEW.—Not later than 24
1473	1473	one year after the date on which the reports required by 25
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1477	1477	subsection (a) are submitted to Congress, the Inspector 1
1478	1478	General of the Department shall— 2
1479	1479	(1) review the reports for accuracy and com-3
1480	1480	pleteness; and 4
1481	1481	(2) submit to Congress and make publicly avail-5
1482	1482	able a report that includes— 6
1483	1483	(A) findings regarding whether the process 7
1484	1484	for mass contract cancellations was consistent 8
1485	1485	with public statements of Department officials; 9
1486	1486	(B) recommendations for areas for im-10
1487	1487	provement for future contract management and 11
1488	1488	oversight; and 12
1489	1489	(C) such other matters as the Inspector 13
1490	1490	General considers appropriate, including actions 14
1491	1491	the Department may take to improve oversight 15
1492	1492	and use of Federal resources in order to im-16
1493	1493	prove efficiency in contracting by the Depart-17
1494	1494	ment and prevent and detect waste, fraud, and 18
1495	1495	abuse. 19
1496	1496	SEC. 704. LIMITATIONS ON MASS CONTRACT CANCELLA-20
1497	1497	TIONS. 21
1498	1498	(a) S
1499	1499	UBMISSIONREQUIRED.— 22
1500	1500	(1) I
1501	1501	N GENERAL.—After the conditions de-23
1502	1502	scribed in section 703(a)(2) are met, if the Secretary 24
1503	1503	of Veterans Affairs decides to carry out a mass con-25
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1507	1507	tract cancellation, the Secretary shall, before car-1
1508	1508	rying out such cancellation, submit to the Committee 2
1509	1509	on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com-3
1510	1510	mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep-4
1511	1511	resentatives the following: 5
1512	1512	(A) A list of contracts proposed for can-6
1513	1513	cellation. 7
1514	1514	(B) For each contract included in the list 8
1515	1515	described in subparagraph (A), a certification 9
1516	1516	described in section 703(a)(2)(B). 10
1517	1517	(C) The number of contracts included in 11
1518	1518	such list that are held by a service-disabled vet-12
1519	1519	eran-owned small business or a veteran-owned 13
1520	1520	small business. 14
1521	1521	(D) A description of how the work pro-15
1522	1522	posed to be cancelled would be absorbed by the 16
1523	1523	existing workforce of the Department or wheth-17
1524	1524	er hiring of additional staff will be needed to 18
1525	1525	perform that work, and a cost benefit analysis 19
1526	1526	comparing the contracting and staffing ap-20
1527	1527	proaches. 21
1528	1528	(2) L
1529	1529	IMITATION.—The Secretary of Veterans 22
1530	1530	Affairs shall not commence a mass contract cancella-23
1531	1531	tion until the date that is 30 days after the date on 24
1532	1532	which the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 25
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1536	1536	Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 1
1537	1537	the House of Representatives receive the submission 2
1538	1538	for such cancellation under paragraph (1). 3
1539	1539	(b) R
1540	1540	EPORT.— 4
1541	1541	(1) I
1542	1542	N GENERAL.—Not later than 7 business 5
1543	1543	days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 6
1544	1544	Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Com-7
1545	1545	mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 8
1546	1546	Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 9
1547	1547	Representatives a report that includes the following: 10
1548	1548	(A) A list of the contracts cancelled or pro-11
1549	1549	posed for cancellation developed by the Depart-12
1550	1550	ment and announced by the Secretary of Vet-13
1551	1551	erans Affairs on February 25, 2025, and, for 14
1552	1552	each contract included in such list— 15
1553	1553	(i) the justification for the need for 16
1554	1554	the contract, if submitted, as written by 17
1555	1555	career employees of the Department; and 18
1556	1556	(ii) an indication of whether the entity 19
1557	1557	holding the contract is a service-disabled 20
1558	1558	veteran-owned small business or a veteran- 21
1559	1559	owned small business. 22
1560	1560	(B) A list of contracts announced for can-23
1561	1561	cellation by the Department of Veterans Affairs 24
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1565	1565	on March 3, 2025, and, for each contract in-1
1566	1566	cluded in such list— 2
1567	1567	(i) the justification for the need for 3
1568	1568	the contract, if submitted, as written by 4
1569	1569	career employees of the Department; and 5
1570	1570	(ii) an indication of whether the entity 6
1571	1571	holding the contract is a service-disabled 7
1572	1572	veteran-owned small business or a veteran- 8
1573	1573	owned small business. 9
1574	1574	(2) D
1575	1575	ATA FIELDS.—Each list described in para-10
1576	1576	graph (1) shall contain, at a minimum, the following 11
1577	1577	fields: 12
1578	1578	(A) Contract/Order #/PIID. 13
1579	1579	(B) Vendor. 14
1580	1580	(C) Category of contract using relevant 15
1581	1581	North American Industry Classification System 16
1582	1582	(NAICS) terminology. 17
1583	1583	(D) Contract description. 18
1584	1584	(E) Date of termination or contract action. 19
1585	1585	(F) Contracting Unique Entity Identifier. 20
1586	1586	(G) The headquarters city and State of the 21
1587	1587	vendor. 22
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1591	1591	SEC. 705. CHARGE CARD PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT 1
1592	1592	OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 2
1593	1593	(a) I
1594	1594	NGENERAL.—Not later than 60 days before 3
1595	1595	making any change to the charge card program of the De-4
1596	1596	partment of Veterans Affairs, including any change reduc-5
1597	1597	ing the total number of charge cards authorized for use, 6
1598	1598	the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall notify the Com-7
1599	1599	mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com-8
1600	1600	mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representa-9
1601	1601	tives in writing of the proposed change. 10
1602	1602	(b) E
1603	1603	LEMENTS.—Any notification required by sub-11
1604	1604	section (a) shall include the following: 12
1605	1605	(1) The justification for the change concerned. 13
1606	1606	(2) The timeline for the change to occur. 14
1607	1607	(3) A description of how the Secretary of Vet-15
1608	1608	erans Affairs intends to monitor for any negative ef-16
1609	1609	fects on health care or benefits delivery. 17
1610	1610	(c) S
1611	1611	UNSET.—This section shall terminate on the 18
1612	1612	date on which President Trump is no longer President. 19
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1616	1616	TITLE VIII—REPORTING 1
1617	1617	REQUIREMENTS 2
1618	1618	SEC. 801. REQUIREMENT FOR VETERANS BENEFITS ADMIN-3
1619	1619	ISTRATION MONDAY MORNING WORKLOAD 4
1620	1620	REPORT. 5
1621	1621	(a) I
1622	1622	NGENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 38, United 6
1623	1623	States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-7
1624	1624	lowing new section: 8
1625	1625	‘‘§ 5322. Monday Morning Workload Report 9
1626	1626	‘‘(a) I
1627	1627	NGENERAL.—Not less frequently than once 10
1628	1628	each week, the Under Secretary for Benefits shall publish 11
1629	1629	on a publicly available website of the Department, a report 12
1630	1630	providing a snapshot of the workload of the Veterans Ben-13
1631	1631	efits Administration. 14
1632	1632	‘‘(b) C
1633	1633	ONTENTS.—Each report published pursuant to 15
1634	1634	subsection (a) shall include the following: 16
1635	1635	‘‘(1) National totals for pending and backlogged 17
1636	1636	compensation, pension, appeals, and education work-18
1637	1637	loads of the Veterans Benefits Administration. 19
1638	1638	‘‘(2) National, district, and regional office-level 20
1639	1639	data, disaggregated by the following: 21
1640	1640	‘‘(A) Station of jurisdiction. 22
1641	1641	‘‘(B) Station of origination. 23
1642	1642	‘‘(C) State. 24
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1646	1646	‘‘(D) National Work Queue, or successor 1
1647	1647	queue, including— 2
1648	1648	‘‘(i) the number of claims pending at 3
1649	1649	stage of the claims life cycle; and 4
1650	1650	‘‘(ii) average time claims are pending 5
1651	1651	at each stage of a life cycle. 6
1652	1652	‘‘(3) Data for groups of claims, disaggregated 7
1653	1653	by national, district, and regional office or State 8
1654	1654	level, including non-rating bundle, entitlement bun-9
1655	1655	dle, award adjustments bundle, program review bun-10
1656	1656	dle, other bundle, burial claims, accrued claims, ap-11
1657	1657	peals, number of claims and appeals with duty to as-12
1658	1658	sist errors, and such other groups as the Secretary 13
1659	1659	considers appropriate. 14
1660	1660	‘‘(4) National level data on claim and appeal in-15
1661	1661	ventories, disaggregated by end product code. 16
1662	1662	‘‘(5) Regional office level data on claim and ap-17
1663	1663	peal inventories, disaggregated by traditional aggre-18
1664	1664	gate groups. 19
1665	1665	‘‘(6) National level data on the future volume of 20
1666	1666	work of which the Under Secretary is aware. 21
1667	1667	‘‘(7) Average age of claims that have main-22
1668	1668	tained continuous pursuit. 23
1669	1669	‘‘(8) Factors contributing to the increase or de-24
1670	1670	crease in workload and the claims backlog. 25
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1674	1674	‘‘(9) Such additional data as the Under Sec-1
1675	1675	retary considers appropriate. 2
1676	1676	‘‘(c) P
1677	1677	UBLICATIONREQUIREMENT.—Each report 3
1678	1678	published pursuant to subsection (a) in a week shall be 4
1679	1679	published on the Monday of that week, except as follows: 5
1680	1680	‘‘(1) In a case in which the Monday of the week 6
1681	1681	of publication is a Federally recognized holiday, the 7
1682	1682	report shall be published on the Tuesday of that 8
1683	1683	week. 9
1684	1684	‘‘(2) In a case in which the Secretary is pub-10
1685	1685	lishing the report required by subsection (a) more 11
1686	1686	than once in a single week, any publication after the 12
1687	1687	first publication may be made on any day of the 13
1688	1688	week at the discretion of the Under Secretary.’’. 14
1689	1689	(b) C
1690	1690	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 15
1691	1691	at the beginning of chapter 53 of such title is amended 16
1692	1692	by adding after the item relating to section 5321 the fol-17
1693	1693	lowing new item: 18
1694	1694	‘‘5322. Monday Morning Workload Report.’’.
1695	1695	SEC. 802. IMPROVEMENTS REGARDING PERIODIC PUBLICA-
1696	1696	19
1697	1697	TION OF METRICS RELATING TO PROC-20
1698	1698	ESSING OF APPEALS. 21
1699	1699	Section 5 of the Veterans Appeals Improvement and 22
1700	1700	Modernization Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–55) is 23
1701	1701	amended by adding at the end the following new para-24
1702	1702	graph: 25
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1706	1706	‘‘(4) A summary of the outcome of appeals 1
1707	1707	under the new appeals system, including appeals re-2
1708	1708	viewed by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, 3
1709	1709	disaggregated by— 4
1710	1710	‘‘(A) the type of review; 5
1711	1711	‘‘(B) station of origination; 6
1712	1712	‘‘(C) type of appeal; and 7
1713	1713	‘‘(D) diagnostic codes.’’. 8
1714	1714	SEC. 803. PUBLICATION OF WAIT TIMES FOR COMMUNITY 9
1715	1715	CARE FROM DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-10
1716	1716	FAIRS. 11
1717	1717	(a) I
1718	1718	NGENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 12
1719	1719	date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet-13
1720	1720	erans Affairs shall publish on a publicly accessible website 14
1721	1721	of each medical center of the Department of Veterans Af-15
1722	1722	fairs the wait times for scheduling an appointment for a 16
1723	1723	veteran to receive care from a non-Department provider 17
1724	1724	in the community for that medical center and each of the 18
1725	1725	clinics of the Department in the catchment area of that 19
1726	1726	medical center. 20
1727	1727	(b) D
1728	1728	ATATOBEINCLUDED.—The Secretary shall 21
1729	1729	include in the publication under subsection (a) wait times 22
1730	1730	for the following care: 23
1731	1731	(1) Primary care. 24
1732	1732	(2) Specialty care. 25
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1736	1736	(3) Inpatient care. 1
1737	1737	(4) Mental health care. 2
1738	1738	(5) Such other types of care as the Secretary 3
1739	1739	considers appropriate. 4
1740	1740	(c) U
1741	1741	PDATE.—The Secretary shall update the wait 5
1742	1742	times published under subsection (a) not less frequently 6
1743	1743	than weekly. 7
1744	1744	(d) M
1745	1745	ETRICSUSED.—The Secretary shall calculate 8
1746	1746	the wait times published under subsection (a) based on 9
1747	1747	similar metrics as the metrics used to calculate wait times 10
1748	1748	for care at facilities of the Department. 11
1749	1749	SEC. 804. PERIOD FOR SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 12
1750	1750	TO RESPOND TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY 13
1751	1751	MEMBERS OF CERTAIN CONGRESSIONAL 14
1752	1752	COMMITTEES. 15
1753	1753	(a) R
1754	1754	EQUIREMENT.—To the maximum extent prac-16
1755	1755	ticable, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide— 17
1756	1756	(1) an answer to a question submitted for the 18
1757	1757	record to the Department of Veterans Affairs by a 19
1758	1758	member of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 20
1759	1759	the Senate or the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 21
1760	1760	the House of Representatives, on or before the date 22
1761	1761	that is 45 business days after the date on which the 23
1762	1762	Department receives the question; 24
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1766	1766	(2) an answer to a request for information sub-1
1767	1767	mitted by a member of the staff of the Committee 2
1768	1768	on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate or the Committee 3
1769	1769	on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 4
1770	1770	or a member of either committee, on or before the 5
1771	1771	date that is 15 business days after the date on 6
1772	1772	which the Department receives the request from the 7
1773	1773	member of the staff or the member of the com-8
1774	1774	mittee, as the case may be; and 9
1775	1775	(3) an answer to a letter sent by a member of 10
1776	1776	the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate or 11
1777	1777	the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 12
1778	1778	Representatives, on or before the date that is 15 13
1779	1779	business days after the date on which the Depart-14
1780	1780	ment receives the letter. 15
1781	1781	(b) D
1782	1782	ELAYEDRESPONSES.— 16
1783	1783	(1) N
1784	1784	OTICE REQUIRED.—If the Secretary an-17
1785	1785	ticipates being unable to provide an answer to a 18
1786	1786	question, request for information, or letter described 19
1787	1787	in subsection (a) that was submitted to the Depart-20
1788	1788	ment by the date specified in such subsection, the 21
1789	1789	Secretary shall, before such date, submit to the 22
1790	1790	member and the relevant Committee a notice that 23
1791	1791	the Secretary anticipates being unable to provide the 24
1792	1792	answer by such date. 25
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1796	1796	(2) CONTENTS.—Notice submitted under para-1
1797	1797	graph (1) shall include the following: 2
1798	1798	(A) A justification for the inability of the 3
1799	1799	Secretary to meet the deadline set forth in sub-4
1800	1800	section (a). 5
1801	1801	(B) An estimate of when an answer will be 6
1802	1802	provided by the Secretary to the question, re-7
1803	1803	quest for information, or letter submitted. 8
1804	1804	(C) A description of the steps the Sec-9
1805	1805	retary needs to take in order to provide the re-10
1806	1806	sponse, including steps required to obtain any 11
1807	1807	information required of another Federal agency. 12
1808	1808	Æ
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