Sponsor
James Risch
Senator · R-ID
Allows VA to recoup amounts from veterans' disability compensation with payment plans, caps monthly deductions at 25%, and requires a hardship waiver process and 90-day regulations.
Senator · R-ID
The bill makes it easier and fairer for veterans to repay VA overpayments by providing payment flexibility, a 25% cap, and hardship waivers, but it still allows reductions to monthly disability pay (up to 25%) and introduces administrative and cost burdens.
Veterans who were overpaid can repay more affordably because the VA may offer flexible payment options (monthly plans, lump sums, or other arrangements) and caps monthly recoupment at 25% of disability compensation.
Veterans experiencing financial hardship can apply for a waiver to reduce or avoid deductions, protecting those who would otherwise face undue financial strain.
The VA must publish implementing regulations within 90 days, creating a clear, time-bound deadline that improves transparency and predictability for veterans and administrators.
Even with the 25% cap, the VA can reduce veterans' monthly disability payments (up to that cap), which can still strain low-income veterans' budgets and reduce household income.
Veterans seeking hardship waivers may face additional administrative steps, applications, and potential delays, creating short-term access barriers to relief.
Implementing payment plans, waiver processing, and new rulemaking could raise VA administrative costs or require reallocating VA resources, with costs ultimately borne by taxpayers or reducing other VA services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Official title: Amend title 10, United States Code, to provide flexibility in the recoupment of separation pay, severance pay, and readjustment pay from members of the Armed Forces receiving veterans' disability compensation.
Introduced August 5, 2026 by James Risch · Last progress August 5, 2026
Allows the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recoup certain amounts from a member’s veterans’ disability compensation using monthly installments, lump-sum payments, or other payment plans, and permits waivers for demonstrated financial hardship. It requires the VA to issue regulations within 90 days that cap monthly deductions at 25% of a veteran’s monthly disability compensation and establish a hardship waiver process, and it makes the change effective the first day of the first month after the final regulations are published in the Federal Register.