Values for America · Brief for congressional offices

To the office of U.S. Representative Morgan Luttrell

Re: HR 2137 (119th Congress), Review Every Veterans Claim Act of 2025 · Latest action (2026-05-04): Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 549.
VFA SI Solution #35 · published 2026-05-14 · https://www.valuesforamerica.com/solutions/35
Office of record (Congress.gov): 444 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC · (202) 225-4901

Efficient Veterans Claims Review Act of 2025

The measure, as described from the official record: Mandate the Department of Veterans Affairs to systematically review every outstanding veterans' benefits claim to eliminate backlogs and ensure fair, accurate processing.

The proposal

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must review all pending veterans' disability and benefits claims older than 125 days, prioritizing those over 365 days, using additional temporary staff and digital tools to cut average processing time to under 100 days. The VA will hire up to 2,000 temporary claims processors for four years, trained via online modules, and deploy AI-assisted triage for initial screenings, with human review required for all final decisions. Claims data will be public quarterly, excluding personal info, to track progress toward zero backlog. If the backlog drops below 50,000 claims, the program scales down automatically. The VA Secretary reports progress monthly to Congress, with penalties for missing targets tied to performance bonuses. This applies only to claims filed before enactment, ensuring new claims follow existing rules. No new claims rights are created.

Operative provisions (VFA proposal)

funding source
Reallocated from VA's existing discretionary Medical Services and Compensation accounts
funding amount
$1.2 billion cap over 5 years
sunset years
5 years
oversight body
Government Accountability Office (GAO) with semi-annual audits; Joint VA Oversight Committee (House and Senate Veterans' Affairs)
enforcement mechanism
Quarterly congressional reports with mandatory corrective plans if backlog targets missed; funding clawback if over 125-day average persists after year 3
effective date
90 days after enactment

Constitutional basis

Why both sides can back it (VFA’s assessment)

Honors Democratic priorities of robust veterans support and backlog reduction; Republican priorities of fiscal controls via cap/sunsets, reallocation over new spending, and strict GAO oversight to prevent bureaucracy growth.

Values for America is a nonpartisan, constitution-first SI think tank. This brief is informational. It is a policy proposal, not law, and it does not support or oppose any candidate or party. Full analysis and sources: https://www.valuesforamerica.com/solutions/35 · Methodology: https://www.valuesforamerica.com/methodology