# 119-hr-2970: National Veterans Advocate Act of 2025

119-hr-2970, National Veterans Advocate Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Yakym, Rudy [R-IN-2] (R-IN); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2970
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-2970
- Congress: 119
- Title: National Veterans Advocate Act of 2025
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-04-17
- Sponsor: Rep. Yakym, Rudy [R-IN-2] (R-IN)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Independent Office of the National Veterans' Advocate** would be created inside the Department of Veterans Affairs to strengthen advocacy for veterans. It would expand casework authority, set staffing and training standards, and require public, independent reports with legislative recommendations. - Veterans and families: Faster access to help for health care, benefits, nursing home, and burial issues through a casework request portal and local veteran advocates. - Veteran advocates and VA staff: New uniform annual training developed with VA leaders and veterans service organizations, plus Deputy National Veterans' Advocates in each Veterans Integrated Service Network and at least one veteran advocate per 12,000 enrolled veterans. - Oversight and public transparency: The National Veterans' Advocate would monitor Department processes and submit independent reports to congressional veterans committees twice a year with legislative recommendations that are not reviewed by the Secretary, and publish them online. - Department operations: The Office would have authority to manage casework across the Department and require outreach to inform veterans about available assistance. *Would authorize $25 million per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to support the Office.*

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Miller, Max L. [R-OH-7] (R-OH), 2025-07-14T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Independent VA advocate and faster case help: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would create an independent Office of the National Veterans' Advocate that reports to the Secretary. The Office would run casework across VA, with a Deputy Advocate in every VISN and staff in Washington, D.C. Each VISN would need at least one veteran advocate for every 12,000 enrolle…
- Stronger oversight to fix VA problems: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Office would look for problems veterans face with hospital and medical care, nursing home care, and burial and interment benefits. It would propose administrative fixes and suggest law changes when needed. The VA Secretary, the Advocate, and top VA leaders would work together often…
- Funding and top pay for Advocate: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would authorize $25 million each year for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to run the Office. It would also pay the National Veterans' Advocate at the top Senior Executive Service basic pay rate. This funding would support staffing and operations that help veterans.
- Twice-yearly public reports to Congress: benefit, low. If enacted, twice a year—by March 30 and September 30—the Advocate would send reports to Congress on the Office’s work. The reports would include independent recommendations to improve care, benefits, and cost efficiency. VA officials could not edit the reports before submission, and the Office wou…
- Yearly training for veteran advocates: benefit, low. If enacted, every veteran advocate would get yearly training. The curriculum would be built with VA health and benefits leaders, VISN directors, and veterans service organizations. Training would cover current VA policy, crisis response, and health topics, and be consistent across VA.

## Related bills

- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2570: Maximum Pressure Act
- 119-hr-3816: Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-2970 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2970)

## Related
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-137: TCJA Permanency Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-137)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-2725: Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2725)
- [119-hr-2570: Maximum Pressure Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2570)
- [119-hr-3816: Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3816)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2970 (as of 2026-04-21).