Sponsors (11)
Introduced November 18, 2025 by Richard Blumenthal · Last progress November 18, 2025
The bill expands VA employees' ability to have on-duty representation—strengthening worker protections and potentially improving veteran services—while risking slower investigations, higher administrative and operational burdens, and uneven protections for some senior staff.
VA employees (broadly) can have a representative present during disciplinary examinations on duty time, protecting their ability to respond and preserving pay and leave balances.
Clear statutory rules for representation may improve VA workplace fairness and morale, which can lead to better service delivery for veterans over time.
If representation is widely used, disciplinary processes could slow and the agency could face higher administrative costs to manage investigations and representation requests.
Providing representation on duty time could cause staffing disruptions and increased operational burden for VA facilities during examinations.
Excluding senior executives and certain appointed positions means those employees will not receive the same protections, creating inconsistent rights across the VA workforce.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a statutory right for most Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees to have a representative present at examinations by the Secretary when the employee reasonably believes the examination may lead to disciplinary action and requests representation. The right covers representation on duty time where applicable and excludes senior executives, certain appointed personnel, and political appointees. Also updates the chapter table of sections in title 38 to add the new statutory provision. No new funding, deadlines, or changes to other laws are specified.