H.R. 1732 · 119th Congress

GUARD VA Benefits Act

Introduced on Feb 27, 2025 by Chris Pappas (D-NH-1). 137 cosponsors, 16 of them from another party. Latest action (Mar 18, 2026): Committee Hearings Held

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Feb 27, 2025
Cosponsors
137
16 from the other party
Policy area
Armed Forces and National Security
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Progress

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

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

Official title

To amend title 38, United States Code, to reinstate penalties for persons charging veterans unauthorized fees relating to claims for benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Civil actions and liability
  • Fraud offenses and financial crimes
  • User charges and fees
  • Veterans' pensions and compensation

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Feb 27, 2025). Public domain.

Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding VA Benefits Act or the GUARD VA Benefits Act

This bill imposes fines on individuals for soliciting, contracting for, charging, or receiving any unauthorized fee or compensation with respect to the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of any claim for Department of Veterans Affairs benefits. The attempted commission of such offenses is also punishable by fine.

Sponsor and cosponsors

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

Chris PappasD-NH-1Sponsor

Democrats · 121

Republicans · 16

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 27, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Feb 27, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Feb 27, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Feb 27, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Mar 27, 2025 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
  6. Mar 18, 2026 · HouseSubcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Discharged
  7. Mar 18, 2026 · HouseCommittee Hearings Held

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. VETERANS GUARDIAN VA CLAIM CONSULTING16 reports
    $4.6M reported (all issues)
  2. National Organization of Veterans' Advocates, Inc.10 reports
    $335K reported (all issues)
  3. American Association for Justice6 reports
    $9.2M reported (all issues)
  4. DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS6 reports
    $910.6K reported (all issues)
  5. Fleet Reserve Association6 reports
    $720K reported (all issues)
  6. JoshCo Group, LLC d/b/a Veteran Benefits Guide6 reports
    $660K reported (all issues)
  7. PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA6 reports
    $572.6K reported (all issues)
  8. Trajector Medical4 reports
    $160K reported (all issues)
  9. HUMANA INC.3 reports
    $3.8M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: HUMANA GOVERNMENT BUSINESS INC$5.6B in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  10. Military Officers Association of America3 reports
    $1.8M reported (all issues)
  11. NATIONAL NURSES UNITED1 report
    $90K reported (all issues)
  12. National Association of Veterans Rights1 report

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 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 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 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 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.