House Moves on Veteran Retirement Pay
PHOTO CAPTION: Rep. Mark Takano speaks alongside veterans and advocacy organizations at the U.S. Capitol on November 9, 2026, during a renewed push to pass the Major Richard Star Act. The legislation would allow eligible combat-injured military retirees with fewer than 20 years of service to receive their full military retired pay alongside VA disability compensation. (Image via Stars and Stripes, original video attribution to be confirmed.)
Nearly 59,000 combat-injured veterans could receive additional military retirement pay under legislation moving toward a House vote, potentially ending a longstanding federal rule that reduces retirement payments for certain medically retired service members who also collect VA disability compensation.
On Monday, November 9, Rep. Mark Takano formally initiated a House procedure designed to force consideration of the Major Richard Star Act, legislation supported by more than 300 lawmakers from both parties.
The measure could increase total monthly compensation for eligible retirees by approximately $1,450 on average, according to a recent Congressional Budget Office estimate.
But a separate veterans' benefits package has introduced another controversy. Veterans organizations are warning that its proposed changes to disability ratings for tinnitus and sleep apnea could reduce compensation available to some future claimants.
Congress now faces two competing approaches to expanding veterans' benefits, with questions about costs, fairness and the long-term consequences for disability compensation.
An Army Veteran Says He Has Lost Nearly $100,000
For Army veteran Antonio Gordon, the debate is about money he believes he earned through military service but has been unable to collect.
Gordon medically retired from the Army in December 2019.
Since then, he estimates that federal retirement rules have prevented him from receiving nearly $100,000 in military retired pay.
Under current law, many medically retired veterans with fewer than 20 years of service cannot receive their full military retirement pay and VA disability compensation simultaneously.
Instead, their retirement pay is reduced by the amount of VA disability compensation they receive.
The reduction is commonly called the "wounded veteran tax" by advocates seeking to change the policy, although it is an offset rather than an actual tax.
Gordon told Military Times that the reduction wipes out his retirement payments.
He explained that the money could have supported his son and helped cover ordinary household expenses, including housing, transportation and insurance.
Another veteran, Allen Nixon, was shot six times and wounded by a grenade during his third deployment to Iraq.
After a year of rehabilitation, Nixon was medically retired.
He is among the veterans calling on lawmakers to change a system they believe disadvantages personnel whose military careers ended because of combat-related injuries.
What the Major Richard Star Act Would Change
The Major Richard Star Act, H.R. 2102, addresses a specific group of medically retired military personnel.
These are veterans who retired under Chapter 61 of federal military retirement law, have qualifying combat-related disabilities and completed fewer than 20 years of service.
Under existing law, certain retirees can already receive both military retired pay and VA disability compensation.
Concurrent Retired and Disability Pay generally applies to qualifying retirees with at least 20 years of service and VA disability ratings of at least 50%.
Combat-Related Special Compensation, or CRSC, provides another form of relief for eligible combat-disabled retirees.
However, important limitations remain for Chapter 61 retirees with fewer than 20 years of service.
The Star Act would eliminate the disability compensation offset for eligible combat-injured retirees, allowing them to collect their full military retired pay alongside their VA disability compensation.
The bill would not automatically provide additional retirement benefits to every veteran with a service-connected disability.
Eligibility would depend on the veteran's retirement status and qualifying combat-related disabilities.
How Much Money Could Veterans Receive?
The Congressional Budget Office released an updated estimate on October 27 showing the potential financial impact of the legislation.
CBO examined a group of approximately 58,000 Chapter 61 retirees receiving Combat-Related Special Compensation who had fewer than 20 years of service.
For that group, the average monthly reduction in retired pay was approximately $2,275.
Those retirees received an average of about $825 monthly in CRSC payments, partially offsetting the reduction.
Under the revised Star Act, CBO estimates that eligible retirees would receive approximately $1,450 more per month in total compensation than under current law.
That is an average, not a fixed payment guaranteed to every eligible veteran.
The actual increase would depend on the individual's retirement calculation, current compensation and applicable benefits.
CBO estimates the amended legislation would increase federal direct spending by approximately $12.75 billion over fiscal years 2027 through 2036.
An earlier, broader version carried a substantially higher estimated cost. Lawmakers narrowed the legislation, removing provisions that would have expanded other forms of concurrent retirement and disability compensation.
Those changes reduced the projected cost while retaining the central proposal to eliminate the offset for eligible combat-related disability retirees with fewer than 20 years of service.
House Action Creates a New Path to a Vote
The latest development occurred Monday afternoon.
At 2:03 p.m. on November 9, Takano formally notified the House of his intention to offer a motion to discharge the Rules Committee from further consideration of House Resolution 1247.
That resolution would establish the terms for considering the Major Richard Star Act.
The move followed months of work to secure enough lawmakers' signatures to bypass the usual committee process.
A discharge petition filed in May reached the required 218 signatures on September 15, when Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina supplied the decisive signature.
The petition's supporters can now use House procedures to bring the matter forward.
The House speaker must provide an opportunity for a vote on the discharge motion within two legislative days of Takano's notification.
If the House approves that motion and the accompanying resolution, lawmakers can proceed to debate and vote on the Star Act itself.
The measure has broad bipartisan sponsorship. As of November 2, the Military Officers Association of America reported 341 House cosponsors and 81 Senate cosponsors.
But the bill has not passed.
Even if approved by the House, it would still need Senate action and the president's signature before becoming law.
A Rival Bill Raises Concerns About Future VA Disability Benefits
The fight over the Star Act is unfolding alongside disagreement over the Take Care of America's Veterans Act, H.R. 9237.
That broader package includes numerous provisions intended to improve veterans' services and benefits.
Supporters, including House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, argue that bundling multiple priorities into one package offers a more financially workable way to advance legislation that has struggled to pass individually.
Bost has described the broader bill as a practical way to advance a version of the Star Act alongside dozens of other veterans' priorities.
However, Section 108 has attracted strong opposition from several veterans organizations.
The provision would change how VA evaluates certain disability claims involving sleep apnea and tinnitus.
Under the proposed sleep apnea rules, a veteran whose condition is effectively treated would generally receive a lower rating than under some existing rating criteria.
A 50% rating would generally require treatment to be ineffective or unusable because of another qualifying medical condition. A 100% rating would require additional end-organ damage.
The tinnitus provision would also largely eliminate separate compensable tinnitus ratings, with an exception for certain cases involving service-connected hearing loss.
The changes would apply to claims filed on or after October 1, 2026, under the proposal's stated applicability provision.
The bill expressly protects compensation already in effect before enactment from being reduced solely because of these rating changes.
But claims filed before enactment that remain unresolved, and claims filed afterward, raise separate questions because of the proposed October 1 applicability date.
Veterans Organizations Warn Against Trading Benefits
The Veterans of Foreign Wars issued an action alert on November 4 opposing the disability-rating changes in the broader bill.
The VFW argues that Congress should not finance improvements to some veterans' benefits by reducing compensation available to other veterans in the future.
The organization also objects to placing the rating changes directly into federal law, rather than allowing the VA to revise its rating schedule through the normal regulatory process.
The VFW has urged Congress to pass a standalone version of the Major Richard Star Act without the contested disability-rating provisions.
Other organizations, including Disabled American Veterans and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, joined lawmakers and veterans at the November 9 Capitol Hill event supporting the standalone measure.
Supporters of the broader legislation dispute the characterization that it would simply eliminate compensation for tinnitus and sleep apnea.
They argue that the proposed criteria reflect previously considered VA rating reforms and would better align compensation with the degree of occupational impairment caused by a disability.
The disagreement is therefore not over whether veterans should receive disability compensation at all.
It concerns how particular conditions should be rated, whether those changes would reduce future payments, and whether any savings should help finance other veterans' benefits.
Time Is Running Out for Congress
Despite the large number of lawmakers supporting the Star Act, passage remains uncertain.
The House must complete the procedural steps required to consider the legislation.
The Senate must also approve a compatible measure, and previous attempts to advance the Star Act there have encountered objections over cost.
If the legislation does not pass before the end of the 119th Congress, lawmakers would have to reintroduce it in the next Congress.
For veterans like Gordon, that would mean continuing under a system that can substantially reduce retirement payments following a military career cut short by combat-related injuries.
Meanwhile, the separate debate over tinnitus and sleep apnea ratings has raised concerns about what future veterans could receive under a broader benefits compromise.
The next House votes could determine whether Congress advances the standalone Star Act, pursues the broader competing package, or leaves both proposals unresolved.
For nearly 59,000 potentially affected combat-injured veterans, the outcome could have a direct impact on their monthly income.
(Source: OAF Nation)
