National Defense Committee - NDC

07/09/2026

National Defense Committee - NDC is proud to partner with Veterans Justice Alliance.

06/20/2026

National Defense Committee - NDC and 25 to 30 organizations wrote two different letters offering up between $27 billion and $36 billion in offsets fo the Department of Defense's procurement budget to fund the Major Richard Star Act, and the links to those two letters are in our comments to to the post below. We encourage Congressman Gus Bilirakis and Congressman Raul Ruiz, MD to offer amendments to TCAVA through the House Rules Committee meeting on Tuesday to eliminate the compensation caps for Chapter 61 retirees under the current version of the Major Richard Star Act, and to offer alternative offsets for TCAVA.

06/18/2026

After years of regulatory double standards in higher education, Senator Jim Banks has introduced legislation that will restore value and dignity to ’ education benefits.

The would permanently repeal the U.S. Department of Education 90/10 Rule, which dictates how and where veterans can use their EARNED benefits.

The 90/10 Rule has always been discriminatory. Now, it is also obsolete, NDC Executive Director Bob Carey writes in a new op-ed.

The established new, uniform accountability standards. Now, all schools must prove their programs’ worth, not just a select few—making the 90/10 Rule irrelevant.

The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Republicans should quickly advance this bill and Congress should move it to President Trump’s desk for signature, Capt. Carey concludes.

Read the full article here:

For years higher education policy has been marked by regulatory double standards and discriminatory rules. The 90/10 Rule and Gainful Employment Rule, specifically, selectively target career colleges, cornering students into conventional public and private schools. The PARITY Act, introduced rece

05/20/2026

National Defense Committee - NDC partnered with a number of the “Billboard Vet” organizations to offer up our Washington, DC resources, and to leverage the great work they’ve done with Social Media and the billboards; we are convinced we would not be at this advanced legislative stage with the Major Richard Star Act but for the dogged persistence and leadership of the “Billboard Vets” organizations, like this one.

As the local DC Swamp Rats, the National Defense Committee’s been deeply involved in many of the ongoing negotiations with both Democratic and Republican Representatives and Senators, both with the Members themselves and the staff. And we can say categorically, we’ve never seen more sincere and dedicated efforts by both Chambers and both sides of the aisle to get to a final legislative solution, and to do so quickly.

If and when the Discharge Petition gets 218 signatures, it takes on a life of its own, and the House MUST take certain action on a definite timeline, regardless of how close the GOP and Democratic leaders may be to a deal. And the version of the Major Richard Star Act in the Discharge Petition is not the version over which many Members are negotiating now. And that would set things backwards if these current negotiations bear fruit.

So, to that end, we’ve heard from many in Congressional leadership ask the Major Richard Star Act advocacy community to give them a few weeks to continue these negotiations. Continue to reach out to House offices and ask them to commit to signing the Discharge Petition but ask them to hold off on actually signing until the first or second week of June to give the negotiations a chance.

The National Defense Committee’s been working on this for six years; we’ve been disappointed in the past and feel like Charlie Brown waiting for Lucy to actually hold the football so we can kick it. But we will say we’ve never been this optimistic in the past and believe giving them a couple of weeks to hopefully come up with a deal is reasonable.

If a deal isn’t struck by the first or second week of June, then we will recommend going all in on the Discharge Petition.

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,