Committee Releases FY25 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill
Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Appropriations Committee released the Fiscal Year 2025 bill for the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. The bill will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow, May 21st at 6:00 p.m. The markup will be live-streamed and can be found on the Committee’s website.
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Carter said, “This legislation is a clear demonstration of our priorities to support our heroes while they serve and as veterans, while addressing the biggest threats facing our security in the Pacific. When our courageous servicemembers transition into veteran life, America makes a commitment to care for them. This bill fulfills that commitment by fully funding veterans’ health care, ensuring our heroes get the medical treatment they need. It also invests in quality-of-life priorities to ensure servicemembers have quality housing and increased access to childcare. I look forward to passing this bill through the full committee this week and thank Chairman Cole for his leadership.”
Chairman Tom Cole said, “It’s of national importance to care for those who selflessly served our nation, support our military families, and strengthen America’s defense. This FY25 bill meets those obligations. It fully funds veteran health care and benefits and works to enhance the quality of life of our troops and their loved ones. The legislation also invests in key measures that bolster deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. We are keeping our promises to those who’ve sworn the sacred oath to protect the nation. I thank Chairman Carter for his work and look forward to supporting the measure as it moves through the process."
Fiscal Year 2025 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Bill
The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill includes a total discretionary allocation of $147.520 billion for the Department of Defense (Military Construction and Family Housing), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and related agencies. The defense portion of the allocation is $17.957 billion ($412 million above the FY25 Budget Request), and the non-defense portion of the allocation is $129.563 billion.
In addition, the bill provides $231.124 billion for mandatory programs for a total of $378.644 billion in overall funding.
Key Takeaways
- Honors our commitment to veterans by:
- Fully funding veterans’ health care programs.
- Fully funding veterans’ benefits and VA programs.
- Bolsters our national security by:
- Providing robust funding for the Indo-Pacific region, fully funding projects in Guam, and increasing resources for INDOPACOM to improve the Department of Defense posture in the region.
- Maintaining the prohibitions on the closure of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the use of military construction funds to build facilities for detainees on U.S. soil.
- Focuses the Executive Branch on its core responsibilities by:
- Reaffirming the political limits outlined in the Hatch Act, particularly those of lobbying Congress and using official resources for political purposes.
- Prohibiting the use of funds to promote or advance critical race theory.
- Prohibiting the implementation, administration, or enforcement of the Biden Administration’s executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Supports American values and principles by:
- Prohibiting taxpayer dollars from being used for abortion, using Hyde language which includes exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.
- Protecting the 2nd Amendment rights of veterans, preventing VA from sending information to the FBI about veterans without a judge’s consent.
- Prohibiting VA from processing medical care claims for illegal aliens.
A summary of the bill is available here.
Bill text is available here.
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