Honoring Our Heroes Act of 2025

Enumerated powers · passes

Congress has explicit authority under Article I, Section 8, Clause 12 to 'raise and support Armies' and under Clause 14 to 'make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces.' Providing benefits to veterans, including burial markers, is a direct exercise of these powers. The Supreme Court has long recognized that veterans' benefits are within the federal government's authority (see United States v. Larionoff, 431 U.S. 864 (1977)). The bill's extension of benefits to veterans who died before 1990 is a reasonable exercise of this power.

Bill of Rights · passes

The bill does not implicate any of the first ten amendments. It does not restrict speech, religion, assembly, press, or petition (First Amendment). It does not affect the right to keep and bear arms (Second Amendment). It does not involve quartering soldiers (Third Amendment). It does not authorize any search or seizure (Fourth Amendment). It does not compel self-incrimination, deny due process, or take property (Fifth Amendment). It does not affect trial rights (Sixth and Seventh Amendments). It does not impose cruel or unusual punishment (Eighth Amendment). It does not violate unenumerated rights (Ninth Amendment) or reserved powers (Tenth Amendment). The bill is purely a benefit program.

Individual liberty · passes

The bill does not restrict any individual's freedom of action. It imposes no mandates, prohibitions, or burdens on any person. It merely authorizes the VA to provide a benefit upon request. The only 'restriction' is that the benefit is limited to covered veterans, but that is a voluntary benefit, not a restriction on liberty. The government is not compelling anyone to do anything; it is offering a service. This is the opposite of a sovereignty infringement.

Decentralization · passes

The bill passes all four questions of the decentralization test. (1) An individual or family could not handle this without government involvement because the benefit is a federal program for veterans; individuals cannot unilaterally provide federal burial markers. (2) A local community or county could not handle this without state involvement because the program is a national benefit for veterans of federal service. (3) A state could not handle this without federal involvement because the federal government has exclusive authority over military service and veterans' benefits. (4) The action does not consolidate decision-making upward beyond the minimum necessary; it is a federal program because the Constitution assigns military affairs to the federal government. The bill does not violate the Tenth Amendment because it does not commandeer state or local governments.

Due process and takings · passes

The bill does not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property. It does not take private property for public use without just compensation (Fifth Amendment Takings Clause). It does not impose any penalty or obligation. The only procedural aspect is that the VA must establish a pilot program and update its website, which involves no adjudication of rights. There is no due process concern because the bill creates a benefit, not a burden.