# 119-s-1068: Putting Veterans First Act of 2025 119-s-1068, Putting Veterans First Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2025-12-21). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1068 - As of: 2025-12-21 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-s-1068 - Congress: 119 - Title: Putting Veterans First Act of 2025 - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2025-03-13 - Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT) - Cosponsors: 21 - Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2025-12-21 ## Summary **Reinstating and protecting veterans and military‑family federal employees**. This bill would undo removals, demotions, and suspensions of veterans, military spouses, caregivers, survivors, and reserve members that occurred between January 20, 2025 and enactment, restore back pay and benefits, and tighten rules on VA personnel actions, contracts, and public reporting. - Affected federal workers and families: Eligible employees would be restored or receive back pay and benefits, get up to 90 days of reimbursed mental health care, and may resign after restoration without forfeiting pay. - VA patients and staff: The VA would face limits on hiring freezes, office closures, and reductions in force, must justify major personnel actions and provide a 180-day window before RIFs, and must publish weekly workload and community-care wait-time data. - Contractors and veteran-owned small businesses: Contracts canceled in mass-cancellation efforts since January 20, 2025 would be reinstated, mass cancellations are paused pending reviews, and future proposed cancellations must identify Service‑Disabled Veteran‑Owned and Veteran‑Owned small businesses and wait 30 days before proceeding. ## Cosponsors (21) - Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] (D-NV), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-03-13T00:00:00.000Z - Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2025-03-14T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Limits on VA layoffs and staffing changes: benefit, high. If enacted, VA would have to give long advance notice and analysis before cuts. The Secretary must submit a detailed justification at least 180 days before any reduction in force and show it will not reduce veteran care or raise costs. VA could not use hiring freezes unless the Secretary shows no i… - Restore pay and care for affected veterans: benefit, high. If enacted, removals, demotions, or suspensions of covered civil-service veterans, military spouses, caregivers, survivors, and reservists that happened between January 20, 2025 and enactment would be treated as void. Affected people would be eligible for back pay and restored benefits retroactive… - More VA wait-time and claims transparency: benefit, medium. If enacted, each VA medical center would publish community-care scheduling wait times within 90 days and update them at least weekly. The Under Secretary for Benefits would post a weekly "Monday Morning Workload Report" showing pending and backlogged compensation, pension, appeals, and education wo… - Protect jobs and expand hiring for veterans: benefit, medium. If enacted, agencies could not move a job from the competitive service to the excepted service unless the current employee agrees or the job is vacant. Such a change could not take effect until two years after the employee gets notice and Congress is told. The Office of Personnel Management and Dep… - Pause and review VA contract cancellations: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA must reinstate contracts cancelled as part of a mass contract cancellation that happened between January 20, 2025 and enactment. VA must pause any mass cancellations in progress and cannot start new ones until it reviews cancelled or proposed contracts from January 20–April 30, 2025… - Tighten VA IT access and reviews: benefit, medium. If enacted, VA would only let its officers, employees, or contractors control VA computer systems. Other people could get admin access only if they have an appropriate security clearance, are not a special Government employee, have at least one year of continuous civil service, complete required tr… - Stronger ethics and vacancy rules for officials: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would bar the VA Secretary from also leading another Executive agency while serving. It would bar the Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics Director from holding any other federal office while serving and set clear interim succession rules if they cannot serve. Th… ## Related bills - 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026 - 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026 - 119-s-1503: Equality Act - 119-s-2295: Child Care for Working Families Act - 119-s-1814: Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2025 - 119-s-852: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025 ## Sources - [119-s-1068 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1068) ## Related - [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066) - [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108) - [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503) - [119-s-2295: Child Care for Working Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2295) - [119-s-1814: Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1814) - [119-s-852: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-852) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1068 (as of 2025-12-21).