VFW Advocacy

1. VFW Action Alert: Keep Pressuring Congress to Protect Veterans' Earned Disability Compensation

   Over the past month, veterans and supporters across the country have sent a clear message: expand veterans' benefits without reducing future veterans' earned disability compensation. Through emails, phone calls, trips to Washington, D.C., and meetings with lawmakers, you've made sure veterans' voices are being heard.

   Although the House pulled its planned vote on the Take Care of America's Veterans Act (H.R.9237 / S.4744), the bill remains active. Now is not the time to let up. Congress should not correct one injustice by creating a new one for future veterans. As lawmakers determine the path forward, they need to continue to hear that their constituents reject this approach.

   The VFW supports correcting past injustices through measures like the Major Richard Star Act, expanding survivor benefits, strengthening mental health protections, and other legislation that honors the sacrifices made by those who served.

   Section 108 would create a new injustice. It would take the unprecedented step of reducing future veterans' earned disability compensation to pay for today's benefit expansions. Congress can and should find a better way.

   TAKE ACTION

   Tell your representative and both senators to oppose Section 108 of the Take Care of America's Veterans Act. Urge them to reject this unprecedented pay-for and protect veterans' earned disability compensation.

   Thank you for continuing to make your voice heard. Let's keep the pressure on.

2. VFW Encouraged As TCAVA House Vote Postponed

   Watch their response or read it below.

   WASHINGTON - We stopped Congress from taking a dangerous step today. No matter how people try to spin it, Congress shouldn't open Pandora's Box on arbitrarily reducing disability ratings. It's never been done before. We're not about to let it start.

   I know there are provisions in this bill that everyone wants to get done. Major Richard Star Act needs to pass. But it needs to pass CLEAN. And it certainly cannot be passed by taking away from future veterans!!!

   For survivors, who wanted this to be the path to fix your injustices, the fight is not over! But again, fixing these problems cannot come at the expense of those currently in harm's way.

   To our troops serving overseas right now. We heard you LOUD AND CLEAR! You told the VFW to keep fighting for YOU. I hope you can see that we are fighting and will continue to stand up for our warfighters.

   To the members of the VFW: Thank you. You showed up when it mattered most. The VFW was threatened and coerced to try to support a dangerous policy that would harm our community. YOU said NO!

   YOU sent more than 60,000 messages to Congress in just a couple weeks; YOU met with your legislators face-to-face; and most importantly: YOU came to Washington, D.C., on a moment's notice - from more than 30 states!!! To tell Congress DO NOT CUT FUTURE BENEFITS!

   There have been a lot of distractions in our work to protect veterans' benefits. VFW was accused of "inciting violence" over our Honor the Contract imagery. A sitting member of Congress threatened our accredited service officer program for speaking out on behalf of the veterans we serve!!!!

   In all my years with the VFW, I had never seen politicians stoop so low - but I said it then and I say it again: The VFW has never apologized for forcefully defending veterans and we are not about to start now."

   But while benefits are safe today, this will continue to be a fight, like we saw in 1933, in 1956, in the early 1980s, and even today. Someone wants to cut veterans' benefits. Washington Post; Economist - and apparently some in Congress. We will not let that happen, and we know that this bill is going to come back again in a few short weeks.

   So let's keep it up. Let's not let off the momentum!!!! Like Smedley Butler said: "Be able to argue intelligently; know what you're talking about... make every public office seeker state where he stands. Don't take any alibi."

   To veterans who are new to this fight, I hope you will join our ranks. I hope you will help us!

   To our peer veterans' groups. We know how you really feel about the cuts in this bill. We have read your shared concerns on Section 108 on reducing veterans' ratings as a piggy bank. It's clear now that veterans don't want this. It's clear this isn't the "only" way. So let's harness our power and let's fix it together!!!

   Again, thank you to the service members, veterans, and families from across America who made YOUR voices heard. Advocacy works. You have a voice. And we are proud to stand with you.

3. VFW Action Alert: Tell Congress to VOTE NO on Reducing Benefits for Future Veterans

   The Take Care of America's Veterans Act (H.R.9237, S.4744) is advancing through Congress, and now is the time to make your voice heard.

   The VFW proudly supports many of its provisions, including the Major Richard Star Act, strengthening mental health protections for veterans, and expanding support for surviving families. These are important priorities that deserve the support of Congress.

   What we cannot accept is asking one generation of veterans to pay for another.

   The Take Care of America's Veterans Act would offset the cost of these important provisions by reducing future veterans' disability compensation for tinnitus and sleep apnea through changes to VA's Schedule for Rating Disabilities. While current disability ratings would be protected, future veterans with service-connected disabilities could receive less compensation than they otherwise would have under current law.

   America's obligation to those who serve is a debt owed by our nation, it is not a debt that should be paid by other veterans. The cost of caring for veterans should be paid through the federal government, not by reducing the earned disability compensation of future generations who answered the call to serve, including many who are serving in harm's way right now.

   This week, VFW leadership, VFW staff, VFW National Legislative Committee members, VFW members, and advocates from across the country are meeting with members of Congress and their staffers on Capitol Hill to urge them to reject these disability compensation offsets. You can strengthen those efforts by making your voice heard today.

   Take Action Now! Contact your congressional representatives and urge them to VOTE NO on the Take Care of America's Veterans Act.
   
   Veterans kept their promise to America. Congress must keep its promise to veterans.
   
   Thank you for standing with the VFW and for helping to ensure Congress hears directly from those who have served.

4. VFW Defends Longstanding Tradition of Political Satire While Opposing Cuts to Veterans' Earned Benefits

   WASHINGTON -The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) today reaffirmed its opposition to Section 108 of the proposed Take Care of America's Veterans Act and defended its longstanding tradition of using political satire to advocate for veterans.

   "For more than 125 years, the VFW has been a fearless advocate for veterans, speaking plainly when elected officials propose policies that threaten the benefits generations of service members have earned through sacrifice," said VFW National Commander Carol Whitmore. "Our opposition to Section 108 reflects that longstanding commitment. Veterans' benefits are not funding sources or bargaining chips for Congress while they scrounge to score political points."

   While the VFW supports many of the bill's underlying goals, it strongly opposes Section 108 because it would reduce future veterans' disability compensation to pay for other veterans' programs. Disability compensation is not a government spending program to be trimmed when convenient. It is earned compensation for injuries and illnesses incurred through military service. Veterans should never be asked to finance new initiatives with benefits they earned through their sacrifice.

   The VFW also opposes using projected reductions in Title 38 disability compensation to finance separate Title 10 military retirement obligations. The organization continues to support passage of a clean and complete Major Richard Star Act, but believes Congress should fulfill that obligation without reducing earned disability benefits for current or future veterans.

   Since its introduction in the fall of 2025, the firing squad illustration has become a recognizable symbol of the VFW's ongoing Honor The Contract campaign. It is political satire that depicts bureaucrats and their pundits figuratively taking aim at veterans by proposing cuts to their earned disability benefits in order to save money or fund other initiatives. Despite House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Mike Bost's unprecedented and unacceptable accusations in a recent statement, the image is not a depiction of violence. It is a symbolic representation of the consequences veterans face when Congress targets the benefits they earned through their service. It is also protected First Amendment speech. Political cartoons, symbolism, satire and hyperbole have been part of American public discourse since the founding of our Nation. They remain among the most recognized forms of protected political expression because they communicate ideas through symbolism rather than literal depiction. Americans are free to disagree with the VFW's message, but disagreement with protected political expression does not transform satire into violence. Even Chairman Bost at one time agreed with this premise:

   "Free speech is foundational to democracy and the American way of life. That's why servicemembers and veterans have fought and died for it for 245 years," said Bost on October 13, 2021, during opening remarks of a committee hearing on violent extremism. "Free speech must be protected. I will oppose any effort to restrict it. It is every veteran's right to have an opinion - even one I find radical."

   The political illustration is also rooted in the VFW's own history. The use of satirical political cartoons was commonplace in early 20th century magazines, and the VFW regularly published works of illustrators' satire to convey the unjust ways America's veterans were being treated by the government. The current artwork is a modern interpretation of illustrations published in the VFW's Foreign Service magazine in 1933 and again in VFW magazine in 1956. Sadly, what veterans were experiencing decades ago is the same thing occurring today, which is why the illustration in question remains so relevant.

   The VFW has consistently used this imagery in official advocacy before Congress and in public communications. The illustration appeared prominently in the organization's October 2025 response to a series of Washington Post articles that characterized veterans' disability benefits as loopholes to exploit. VFW Washington Office Executive Director Ryan Gallucci presented the historic and modern illustrations during his testimony before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs last October. Whitmore, along with VFW members in attendance, wore buttons displaying the illustration during her testimony before a Joint Congressional Veterans' Affairs committee this past March.

   "The VFW has never apologized for forcefully defending veterans and we are not about to start now," said Whitmore. "Political cartoons have long been part of American public discourse because they communicate difficult truths in memorable ways. When bureaucrats take aim at veterans' earned disability benefits, we will continue to use every tool available to ensure veterans' voices are heard."

   The VFW urges Congress to remove Section 108 from the Take Care of America's Veterans Act, preserve the integrity of the disability rating system and pass veterans' priorities without reducing earned disability compensation. America's obligation to disabled veterans is not negotiable and should never be treated as a source of savings to pay for other legislation.

   The VFW remains committed to working with lawmakers who seek to improve care and benefits for veterans. However, the organization will continue to oppose any proposal that weakens the commitments America has made to those who answered the nation's call.

5. Congress Can't Do Its Own Job, Much Less Determine Veteran Disability Status

   For decades, disability ratings have been based on medical evidence and the real-world impact of a service-connected condition on a veteran's life. Section 108 of the introduced Take Care of America's Veterans Act - House Resolution 9237/Senate Bill 4744, sponsored by senior Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran - would move Congress directly into that process by changing how certain disabilities, including tinnitus and sleep apnea, are evaluated and compensated.

   There are more that 200,000 veterans in the Kansas City metropolitan area, according to Veterans Affairs data, an estimated 65,000 of them disabled. That should concern every veteran and every member of Congress.

   Congress can barely perform its most basic responsibilities. It routinely fails to pass budgets on time, relies on continuing resolutions to keep the government open, struggles to conduct meaningful oversight of the agencies it creates, and has spent decades trying to fix a Veterans Affairs claims system that remains frustratingly complex for many veterans. Yet now, some in Congress apparently believe they should be in the business of deciding how disabled a veteran is.

   If politicians cannot reliably handle the responsibilities already assigned to them, why should veterans trust them to make individualized medical and vocational determinations that require specialized expertise?

   The issue is not whether disability ratings should ever change. They should, when the medical evidence supports it.

   The issue is who should be making those changes and why.

   The ratings changes that members of Congress seek to codify did not originate with those lawmakers. They stem from a 2022 VA rulemaking proposal that generated significant opposition from veterans, advocates and stakeholders who questioned both the medical rationale and the practical consequences of the changes. The VA received more than 2,600 comments during the notice-and-comment process, yet Congress is moving to legislate the proposal before the VA has completed the process Congress itself established for evaluating such changes.

   The Constitution begins with "We the people." Thousands of veterans spoke out because they were told their voices mattered. Congress should not make those voices irrelevant by legislating the outcome before the process has run its course.

   Supporters of Section 108 argue that the proposed changes would modernize the disability compensation system and generate savings to fund other veterans' priorities. But disabled veterans should not be asked to finance veterans legislation.

   Disability ratings are not supposed to be budgetary tools. They are part of the nation's commitment to compensate veterans for injuries incurred in service to their country. When Congress alters ratings to fund other priorities, it transforms what should be an evidence-based medical determination into a political calculation.

   Section 108 raises a fundamental question about the future of the disability system: Should ratings be determined by medical expertise and evidence, or should they become another subject of political compromise whenever Congress needs to offset the cost of a new initiative?

   If Congress succeeds in using future disability compensation as offsets, it would establish a troubling precedent. Future Congresses may increasingly view earned disability compensation as a funding mechanism rather than a solemn obligation owed to those who served.

   Congress has a critical role to play in veterans policy: funding VA, conducting oversight, improving access to care and ensuring veterans receive the benefits they have earned.

   If disability ratings need to change, they should change because the evidence demands it, after a transparent regulatory process has run its course, not because a bill needs a pay-for. Veterans deserve a disability system guided by medicine, science and the actual impact of a condition on their lives, not projected budget savings.

   Disability compensation is part of the nation's commitment to those who served. It should never be treated as a budget offset.

   This OpEd was written by John Muckelbauer, general counsel of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and published in the Kansas City Star on Monday, June 22, 2026, here.