Published November 13, 2026 · By
Veterans retirement pay was at the center of a 392-18 House vote on Thursday, November 12, when lawmakers passed the Major Richard Star Act (H.R. 2102). The bill would let combat-injured veterans who were medically retired before reaching 20 years of service collect their military retirement pay and their disability compensation without the current dollar-for-dollar reduction. It now goes to the Senate, where a standalone version has stalled before.
The vote on veterans retirement pay came one day after the House approved a separate Republican veterans package by voice vote. That means two different House-passed approaches to the same benefit are now waiting on the Senate, with less than two months left in the 119th Congress.
Veterans Retirement Pay: What the House Passed
According to the official roll call from the House Clerk, the final tally was 392 in favor and 18 against, with 23 members not voting. Democrats voted 210-0 in favor. Republicans voted 181-18 in favor. One independent member, Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, also voted yes. You can review the full House roll call vote 323 on clerk.house.gov.
Military.com reported that the 18 no votes all came from Republicans, including Reps. Andy Biggs, Tim Burchett, Chip Roy, Tom McClintock and David Schweikert. Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost voted for final passage, according to the same report.
Who would see higher veterans retirement pay
The bill targets a specific group: veterans with combat-related disabilities who left the service under the military's disability retirement rules with fewer than 20 years of creditable service. Under current law, those retirees see their veterans retirement pay reduced by the amount of their disability compensation. Veterans who served a full 20 years and have higher disability ratings can already collect both.
Estimates of the number of people involved vary by source. Military.com put the figure at about 58,000 veterans, citing Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data. House Veterans' Affairs Committee Democrats said roughly 59,000, while the National Association of Counties (NACo) cited about 54,000. Military.com also noted that the bill does not raise disability ratings and does not apply to every disabled veteran.
How much veterans retirement pay is at stake
The CBO estimated on October 27 that affected veterans' combined pay would rise by an average of about $1,450 a month, or roughly $17,400 a year, according to Military.com. Individual amounts would vary. The same report said the current average offset is about $2,275 a month and that the bill is projected to cost $12.75 billion over 10 years.
The Hill reported that fiscal conservatives have raised concerns about the lack of spending offsets to cover that cost. None of the sources reviewed for this article described a specific way the standalone bill would be paid for.
How the Bill Reached the Floor
The path to Thursday's veterans retirement pay vote was unusual. The bill was not brought up by House leadership. Instead, Rep. Mark Takano of California, the top Democrat on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, filed a discharge petition on May 21, 2026. A discharge petition can force a floor vote once a majority of the House, 218 members, signs it. House Veterans' Affairs Democrats said Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, added the 218th signature on September 15.
On Wednesday, November 11, a motion that forced the bill to the floor passed 245-175, Military.com reported. Johnson, Scalise and Bost voted against that motion. On Thursday, a vote to bring the measure up for debate passed 271-135 before final passage, according to the same report. Our earlier coverage of the 245-175 vote on the Major Richard Star Act explains that first step in more detail.
The bill's long history
The legislation is named for Army Maj. Richard Star, a combat veteran who pressed Congress for the change but died before it became law. According to House Veterans' Affairs Democrats, Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Florida Republican, first introduced a version in 2020, and the measure later gathered about 290 cosponsors without reaching a floor vote. It was reintroduced in 2025 as H.R. 2102 in the House and S. 1032 in the Senate. The Hill reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth endorsed the bill earlier this year.
What Each Side Said
Takano said in a statement that Major Star had asked Congress to fix the offset years ago. "Six years ago, Major Star asked Congress to fix this. He died before we could," he said. Rep. Raul Ruiz, a California Democrat who co-wrote the bill with Bilirakis, called the vote a historic victory and urged the Senate to act, according to the committee Democrats' release. Rep. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania said the vote happened against the wishes of House Republican leadership.
Bilirakis did not sign the discharge petition, The Hill reported. He instead praised Republicans for including the Star Act's veterans retirement pay benefit in the broader package that passed the House on Wednesday. The 18 Republicans who voted no did not give individual reasons in the sources reviewed, though The Hill said fiscal hawks have objected to the absence of offsets.
The competing Republican package
That broader package, known as TCAVA, passed the House by voice vote on November 11. Military.com reported that it includes its own version of the Star Act along with more than 60 other provisions, including changes to how sleep apnea and tinnitus would be rated for future disability claims. House Veterans' Affairs Democrats described its Star Act language as a narrower version and said they, along with the group Disabled American Veterans, oppose the package over its funding approach and benefit caps.
Republican supporters see the package as a way to move the veterans retirement pay benefit along with other veterans' policy changes. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, the Republican chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said he looks forward to the package becoming law, according to Military.com.
Veterans Retirement Pay Bill Now Faces the Senate
The Senate companion, S. 1032, is led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. Military.com reported that Senate Republicans have blocked the standalone bill six times and that the Senate has no discharge process like the House uses. Blumenthal said the Republican package would be defeated in the Senate, according to the same report.
Timing matters. Any bill that has not cleared both chambers by the time this Congress ends on January 3, 2027, must start over in the new Congress. Senate leaders would need to decide how to handle veterans retirement pay, choosing between the standalone bill, the broader package, or a negotiated version in the remaining weeks, while lawmakers also face other year-end deadlines, including government funding.
No White House statement on H.R. 2102 itself appeared in the sources reviewed for this article. A bill must pass both chambers in identical form and be signed by the president before it becomes law. You can follow its status on the official H.R. 2102 page on congress.gov.
What It Means for You
For now, nothing changes. Military.com noted that the House vote alone does not alter any payment. Veterans retirement pay would only be affected once a bill passes the Senate and is signed into law. Here is what affected households can keep in mind:
- Check your status. The change applies to combat-injured veterans who were medically retired with fewer than 20 years of service. If that describes you, your current retirement pay is likely being reduced by your disability compensation.
- Know the timeline. The bill text says the veterans retirement pay change would take effect on the first day of the first month after enactment. Military.com reported that a December signing would apply to January payments.
- Do not plan around it yet. With two competing versions and a short calendar, the final form, timing and amount of any change to veterans retirement pay remain uncertain.
- Use official channels. For questions about your own retirement or disability payments, contact the Defense Finance and Accounting Service or the Department of Veterans Affairs directly rather than relying on third-party offers.
Our analysis: for an eligible household, the CBO average of about $1,450 a month would be a significant change to monthly income. But the figure is an average, and individual results will depend on each veteran's retirement pay and disability rating. Veterans retirement pay questions are best checked against official records once any law is final.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. For more on how Pentagon leadership has approached veterans issues this month, see our report on Defense Secretary Hegseth's Veterans Day visit.
Sources: House Clerk roll call 323 (clerk.house.gov); Military.com; The Hill; House Veterans' Affairs Committee Democrats; National Association of Counties (NACo); congress.gov.
