H.R. 1458 · 119th Congress

VETS Opportunity Act of 2025

Introduced on Feb 21, 2025 by Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-6). 10 cosponsors, 5 of them from another party. Latest action (Feb 3, 2026): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Feb 21, 2025
Cosponsors
10
5 from the other party
Policy area
Armed Forces and National Security
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the criteria for approval of certain independent study programs for purposes of the educational assistance programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Subjects

  • Higher education
  • Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Reported to House, Sep 26, 2025). Public domain.

Veterans Education and Technical Skills Opportunity Act of 2025 or the VETS Opportunity Act of 2025

This bill addresses the administration of and eligibility for certain Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) educational assistance benefits and programs.

The bill modifies the process for repaying service members and veterans who paid to keep benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill, but later chose to utilize Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Specifically, the bill requires that the VA issue a repayment within 60 days of an individual exhausting their eligibility for Post-9/11 benefits, regardless of their housing stipend eligibility.

The bill also modifies which independent study programs are covered under veterans’ educational assistance benefits. The bill requires independent study programs that lead to a certificate that reflects graduation from a course of study to include regular and substantive interaction between students and instructors. Additionally, the bill allows such independent study programs to be offered by any institutions of higher education, including for-profit institutions, that are approved to participate in the Department of Education’s financial assistance programs.

Upon receiving orders for active service, inactive duty training, or state active duty, the bill authorizes a member of the Armed Forces or reserves to enter into an agreement with their educational institution to complete a course of education to the satisfaction of the institution if they have completed at least half of the course.

The bill extends through March 31, 2033, a pension cap for veterans who are being furnished VA domiciliary care.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Juan CiscomaniR-AZ-6Sponsor

Democrats · 5

Republicans · 5

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Feb 21, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Feb 21, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Feb 21, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  4. Mar 10, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.
  5. Mar 11, 2025 · HouseSubcommittee Hearings Held
  6. Apr 9, 2025 · HouseSubcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  7. Apr 9, 2025 · HouseForwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
  8. May 6, 2025 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  9. Sep 26, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. H. Rept. 119-308.
  10. Sep 26, 2025 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. H. Rept. 119-308.
  11. Sep 26, 2025 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 262.
  12. Feb 2, 2026 · HouseMr. Bost moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  13. Feb 2, 2026 · HouseConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H1933-1935)
  14. Feb 2, 2026 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 1458.
  15. Feb 2, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H1933-1934)
  16. Feb 2, 2026 · HouseOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H1933-1934)
  17. Feb 2, 2026 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  18. Feb 3, 2026 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS6 reports
    $910.6K reported (all issues)
  2. Fleet Reserve Association6 reports
    $720K reported (all issues)
  3. PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA6 reports
    $572.6K reported (all issues)
  4. The University of North Carolina System4 reports
    $460K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SYSTEM OFFICEAI match · 100%
  5. COVESTRO LLC1 report
    $330K reported (all issues)
  6. Career Education Colleges & Universities (FKA Ass'n of Private Sector Colleges a1 report
    $100K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.