National Defense Committee - NDC

04/09/2026

The National Defense Committee would like to wish a very happy birthday to our founder, Rear Admiral James J. Carey, USN (Ret), who had the foresight of not only founding National Defense Committee inj 2003, but in grabbing the great name that surprisingly was still available!

BZ, Admiral. We salute you and wish you a happy birthday.

02/26/2026

Disability Benefits Interim Final Rule Fully and Formally Rescinded!!

At the National Defense Committee, we are exceptionally grateful to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and VA Secretary Doug Collins for fully rescinding the premature Interim Final Rule on VA Disability Ratings. We were heartened by the Secretary’s assurance that the Department understood this was premature. However, we were still concerned that continuing the regulatory process under the Interim Final Rule, regardless of whether the Department intended to enforce it as a Final Rule, would still threaten disabled veterans from unintended bureaucratic reductions in the disability benefits.

When this Rule was first published, National Defense Committee organized 37 other military and veteran organizations in the letter to the Secretary below, spelling out why only full and formal rescission of the Interim Final Rule would so protect veterans disability benefits, and we are very, very grateful the Secretary apparently took our recommendations to heart, announcing today that the entire Interim Final Rule is rescinded.

Thank you, Secretary Collins, and thank you Department of Veterans Affairs, for listening to your stakeholders and constituents and reversing course. Your listening to us is deeply appreciated.

Who are you and what have done with the Department of Veterans Affairs? 😀😀

https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-03940.pdf

Naval Enlisted Reserve Association
The Marine Corps League
Vietnam Veterans of America
Association of the US Navy
Wounded Paw Project
American GI Forum
Non Commissioned Officers Association
Household 6
of Sisters
Amvets
;itary Order of the Purple Heart
Gold Star Spouses of America, Inc.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
The Military Coalition
: The Enlisted Association
Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A.
Association of the National Guard of the U.S.
's Warrior Partnership
War Veterans Association
Freedom Foundation
Forces Retirees Association
Officers Association of the U.S. Pbulic Health Service
Fleet Reserve Association National Headquarters
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)
Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA)
Grunt Style Foundation
Association of County Veteran Service Officers
Burn Pits 360 Veterans Organization
Warrant Officers Association of the U.S. Coast Guard

02/12/2026

Veteran Groups Not Briefed or Involved in VHA Reorganization? Uhh...We Were and Still Are.

At yesterday's House Committee on Veterans' Affairs GOP-House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Democrats hearing on the Veterans Health Administration reorganization with VA Secretary Doug Collins, some Committee Members stated that the veterans community was not integrated into or briefed on this process.

The National Defense Committee was briefed twice on this proposal and asked repeatedly for our input. The second briefing had more than 20 veteran organizations present, including the larger, traditional membership-based veteran and military service organizations.

As Co-Chair of the National Military & Veterans Alliance and co-chair of the Veterans Committee of The Military Coalition, we briefed the 85-plus member organizations of those two alliances and passed along the briefing material from VA to the organization, along with the contacts at VA if organizations had questions, comments, or additional ideas.

More to follow on the National Defense Committee's analysis of this proposed reorganization, but one thing I do know is that almost everything I see in this proposed reorganization is almost word-for-word from the 2016 Congressionally mandated "Commission on Care" report on VHA reorganization.

But yeah, we've been briefed, been provided plenty of opportunity to comment, and our experience is that the input's been appreciated and will likely be incorporated.

Let's stop trying to protect the "system" and start worrying about protecting veterans' health.







https://permanent.fdlp.gov/gpo69908/Commission-on-Care_Final-Report_063016_FOR-WEB.pdf

01/15/2026

Great post from Pass the Act!

Senator Roger Wicker is willing to have his picture with the disabled veteran, but unwilling to allow a vote on the bill that will help him get all of his earned benefits.

Change your mind, Senator Wicker; support a floor vote on the Major Richard Star Act!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTjNPPKEdtS/?igsh=YXZjNmE0ZjBpOHh3

12/18/2025

Last week the U.S. Department of Education kicked off the AHEAD negotiated rulemaking, which is tasked with developing a new “earnings premium” test for all colleges and universities. The committee should permanently retire the Rule, NDC Executive Director Bob Carey writes in the DC Journal.

Capt. Carey represented military & veteran students the past two neg-reg committees.

“Gainful Employment was never about protecting students; it was meant as a weapon to put proprietary institutions at a disadvantage — schools that have proven particularly popular with the military, veterans and non-traditional students.

"Insofar as the new earnings premium test is a step away from the Gainful Employment Rule, it is a small step in the right direction.

"Gainful Employment was, and still is, discriminatory. Now, it is also unnecessary. The AHEAD negotiators should acknowledge this and focus on leveling the playing field for all colleges and universities—not on building an even bigger regulatory edifice on an already unstable foundation.”

Read the Full Op-Ed Here:

Last week the U.S. Department of Education kicked off the AHEAD negotiated rulemaking, which is responsible for creating and implementing new accountability measures. Negotiators should repeal the Gainful Employment Rule, which discriminates against post-secondary schools favored by the military,

11/11/2025

National Defense Committee - NDC proud to be at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs veteran organization Veterans Day breakfast. Also proud to meet with Sam Brown, Under Secretary of VA for Memorial Affairs, with our Board Chair, Rocky Raczkowski.

10/10/2025

A thoughtful and well articulated look at military disabilitiy benefits and the importance of taking care of those who serve, from our friends at Mission Roll Call: https://tinyurl.com/4fk892j

"Disability compensation is not an entitlement. It is a debt the nation agreed to pay the moment each of them took the oath. These benefits exist to make whole those who carried the cost of national defense in their own bodies and minds, not as income support or welfare.

"…Every large federal program encounters fraud, and veterans’ benefits are no exception. But the number of confirmed cases is statistically microscopic compared to the millions of legitimate claims filed each year. To portray those rare offenders as representative of all veterans is both inaccurate and insulting."

Washington Post

Veterans kept their promise to serve, and our nation must keep its promise to them. This article challenges misleading claims about disability fraud, explains how the system truly works, and calls for thoughtful modernization instead of suspicion.

10/09/2025

A Washington Post article this week accuses military veterans of widespread fraud and exploitation of our “country’s sacred commitment to compensate those harmed in the line of duty.” National Defense Committee is outraged by this broadside attack on the brave men and women who serve our nation in uniform.

Our organization joined 27 military and veterans service groups to call on the Post to provide context and accountability.

Servicemembers and their families make huge sacrifices to protect our country. We owe it to them to attend to their mental and physical health needs when they return from the battlefield. It is an insult to their service to suggest rampant abuse of the system, especially when such claims ignore the realities of modern warfare.

NDC and our fellow organizations call on the Post to provide context to its data and answer questions not addressed by its “investigation.”

Read our full letter here:

National Defense Committee led 28 military and veterans service organizations to demand accountability from the Washington Post today following an article that accuses veterans of mass exploitation of disability benefits. Download An article published by the Post on October 6 alleges that “vet

10/06/2025

The U.S. Department of Education kicked off the RISE Committee negotiated rulemaking last week, which was initiated to consider changes to federal student loans. National Defense Committee Executive Director Bob Carey served as an alternate negotiate representing military and veteran borrowers.

Defining “professional degrees,” which qualify for higher federal loan limits, was a primary focus of the Committee. While the underlying legislative language specifically states that the list of what defines a “professional degree” is “not an exhaustive list” agreement on how to define these degrees still eludes consensus, and will likely be pushed to the second week of the Committee, currently schedule.

NDC encouraged the Department to include graduate programs that are vital to military readiness and veteran medical care and recovery—including occupational, physical, speech therapy, and nursing. Lower loan limits for these fields could reduce the number of graduates available to meet military and Veterans Health Administration clinical provider requirements, creating a worker shortage that could affect national security and the VA’s ability to serve disabled veterans.

Read NDC’s full recap and analysis here: https://tinyurl.com/4vtnzb3e

This week National Defense Committee Executive Director Bob Carey served as an alternate military and veteran student community negotiator on the Department of Education’s “Reimagining and Improve Student Education” (RISE) negotiated rulemaking committee. The committee was convened to consider...

07/31/2025

This month the U.S. Department of Education revised its interpretation of the 90/10 Rule, allowing proprietary schools to count revenue from online programs as non-federal student aid.

The change offers a long overdue correction to a stipulation adopted outside the proper rulemaking process that put career colleges at a disadvantage to conventional public and private nonprofit schools, National Defense Committee Executive Director Bob Carey writes in a letter to the Department.

Now is the time for the Department to retire the 90/10 Rule for good, Mr. Carey concludes. “We encourage you, Madam Secretary, to… build on this momentum by directing the recently announced RISE and AHEAD Negotiated Rulemaking Committees to rescind the 90/10 Rule once and for all.”

Read NDC’s full letter here. https://tinyurl.com/46r8rmha

Secretary Linda McMahon

This month the U.S. Department of Education revised its interpretation of the controversial 90/10 Rule, allowing proprietary schools to count revenue from online programs towards the required 10 percent of revenue that must come from non-federal student aid. The change offers a “long overdue cor

07/08/2025

The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to reinstate the VA Home Loan Veterans Affairs Servicing Program (VASP) while Congress works out authorizing legislation for a replacement program. But eliminating the program before a new one is in place will only hurt veterans who have been led to believe the VA would maintain this program to help them through tough economic times.

Opinion Thousands of veterans race toward a housing cliff that Congress and the VA can fix By Bob “Shoebob” Carey Bob “Shoebob” Carey Special to Stars and Stripes • May 22, 2025

06/30/2025

Quick selfie of myself, representing Defense Committee - NDC and Thomas Aiello from National Taxpayers Union just before the start of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee.