President Donald Trump this week signed into law the Protecting Regular Order (PRO) for Veterans Act, legislation authored by US Sen. Dan Sullivan, which tightens oversight and accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs after calamitous failures of the Biden Administration..
The new law is a response to events like the historic $15 billion budget shortfall in 2024 that was followed just two months later by a multi-billion-dollar surplus.
The PRO Vets Act is not a critique of the current VA administration but will ensure that n the future, regardless of who is in charge, the VA delivers quarterly, in-person budget reports to Congress for three years, and withholds bonuses for senior VA and Office of Management and Budget leaders in the event of fiscal mismanagement.
Sullivan, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said the law is designed to restore confidence in an agency that exists to serve America’s veterans.
“America’s veterans, who’ve served and sacrificed greatly for our country, deserve a Department of Veterans Affairs that is held to the highest possible standard of accountability,” Sullivan said. “The shocking budget debacle last year made clear that this agency was falling short of the standards our veterans deserve.”
Other Senate Republicans who supported the measure said the law ensures transparency and prevents VA leaders from rewarding themselves amid financial mismanagement. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) pointed to the Biden-era shortfall and subsequent bonuses as a “slap in the face” to veterans and taxpayers, while Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said the VA should be held to the same standards as working families who must balance their own budgets.
The legislation had broad GOP backing, with cosponsors including Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Steve Daines of Montana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, as well as Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
The timeline for the new requirements started in 2024:
Summer 2024 – Veterans Benefits Administration announced $15 billion shortfall, seeks $3 billion to cover immediate needs.
July 31, 2024 – Sullivan and Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota demanded an immediate hearing.
September 18, 2024 – Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing; Sullivan introduced the PRO Vets Act.
September 19, 2024 – Sullivan attempted to add the bill to a VA funding package; Senate Democrats blocked it.
November 18, 2024 – Sullivan and 15 colleagues demanded more VA accountability in a formal letter.
February 5, 2025 – Sullivan reintroduced the PRO Vets Act with 10 cosponsors.
April 10, 2025 – Senate passed the PRO Vets Act.
July 22, 2025 – House passed the bill.
September 2025 – Trump signed it into law.
24 years USAF. Retired 1Feb 98. Good luck with that. I’ve had ok luck with the VA. But I was fortunate enough to have Aetna as well, so I don’t have to depend on VA. I can however tell you stories all day long of atrocious things I’ve witnessed and heard from other vets.
I do not have any health insurance coverage beyond the VA. That place is a “cesspool” of dysfunction, so I have done without the benefits I earned for over a decade. My experience at the Anchorage VA Clinic has been atrocious. Nobody in that building, including the director Steinbrunner (Sullivan told me at a fundraiser he got Steinbrunner the job), gives a damn about insuring that veterans can access their earned benefits.
I tried to access the VA’s community care, but the better local doctors I called will not accept VA patients … because the larger VA is a “cesspool”.
If you try to return a call from somebody at the VA, you are transferred to a call center somewhere in the lower 48 states and can wait up to one hour waiting to speak to somebody out of state. You can’t return the call to whoever called from the Anchorage VA by dialing the number at that person’s desk. Nick Begich’s office responded to my complaint about this by telling me the Anchorage VA Clinic is not set up for incoming calls. His office informed me that whoever calls from the Anchorage VA cannot give a precise number for a returned call because the Anchorage VA’s phone system cannot accommodate incoming calls. This is patently untrue, but Begich accepts the VA’s incorrect answer as truthful and that is the end of the complaint.
Both Sullivan and Begich do not give a damn about veterans. Do not believe what they say!
I emailed Dan asking him why he is not supporting the two retired officers that were arrested in Congress for speaking up on the Gaza genocide and received some pre-arranged response about the “war” and Hamas…nothing about the Lt. COL with purple heart and bronze star who was taking out in handcuffs for speaking his mind and stating what he witnessed first hand as a contractor in Gaza. Dan is an AIPAC tool and doesn’t give a damn about veterans or Alaskans…he probably has land waiting for him back in OHIO.
I have had phone call frustration when trying to call the VA as well. Definitely not happy about it. They could do better, for sure. But the medical services from the Anchorage VA and Mat-Su Clinic VA, have been decent to me. The automated prescription phone line, to order medication, seems to work well. Trying to call a specific doctor, not so much. It’s definitely a phone tag situation.
I’m not sure what reports to Congress is really going to do for disabled veterans? I get a little nervous when I see Democrats and RINO’s promoting a new law. Gotta wonder what’s in it for them? How are they going to get paid? Seems doing the right thing isn’t normally their go to move.
At this point, what I see at these two Alaska VA facilities, is they are short on staff. Doctors who come work at the VA seem to burn out with in a 3-5 year window.
Outside doctors don’t want VA patients due to the massive overhead process burden of paperwork and authorization procedures. It’s a costly overhead that the private doctors aren’t willing to take on.
The best thing the VA has for external medical support of Vetran’s is called the PAC Act. With that, a disabled veteran can go to any Emergency Room (ER) and be seen. I think the veteran still needs to notify the VA that they are going the ER at some point. And there’s a certain % of disability required.
Real Congress legislative help, for disabled veterans, that would be a substantial increased of the disability compensation pay amounts. While those funds are tax free, which helps tremendously, the pay amount is relatively low. It’s typically lower income than you would get working at McDonald’s. Supporting a home and a spouse on that level of income is extremely difficult.
Scrapping by isn’t easy for disabled veterans. Especially with the ever increasing cost of food, housing, vehicles, energy bills and taxes.
I would recommend an out right 20% increase across the board. That would help disabled veterans cope with the ever increasing financial burdens and slightly level the field. That would help lower the stress on disabled veterans and their families. It could help reduce PTSD, and Hypertension, in disabled veterans. Less freak outs and suicides as well.
So rather than squandering billions of Federal funds on more nonprofits, grants, Ukraine, or USID, spend those funds closer to home. Improve the lives of all disabled veterans who suffer every day, 24-7, 365 days a year for the rest of their lives.
That would mean as much, or more than, just thanking them for their service. Their sacrifice of their bodies, minds, and lives in service to America, should be compensated so that, even though disabled veterans live with constant pain from their injuries every day, from a broken body, they can at least live with a little dignity, above the poverty line. We as Americans should help here at home before we give billions of tax payer dollars away, especially to foreign nations.
The Congress needs to do better for disabled veterans and stop being such a BIG disappointment. Stop self enrichment long enough to help disabled veterans that have served America.
Disabled veterans deserve better than limited medical services, and getting to live at the poverty level, while in constant pain, and agony. Those who control where tax dollars are spent, should help disabled veterans, who have sacrificed their health, and lives in support/service of America.
How much money has Dan taken from AIPAC ?