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H.R. 659

U.S. House•In Senate Committee

Summary

H.R. 659, the Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025, was introduced in the House on Jan 23, 2025 by Rep. Julia Brownley (D) with 4 co-sponsors. It was referred to Veterans' Affairs, and last saw action on Jan 26, 2026: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Record

Text

H.R. 659 has 4 co-sponsors.

hb659/engrossed-in-house.txt
119 HR 659 EH: Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025
 U.S. House of Representatives
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 IB
 119th CONGRESS  2d Session
 H. R. 659
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 AN ACT
To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals to give priority to individuals with certain professional experience in recommending such individuals to serve as members of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025  .
2.
Priority for individuals with certain professional experience in appointments to Board of Veterans’ Appeals
Subsection (a) of section 7101A of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(3)
In recommending individuals to the Secretary to serve as members of the Board, the Chairman shall give priority to individuals with three or more years of legal professional experience in areas that pertain to the laws administered by the Secretary.
 .
      Passed the House of Representatives January 20, 2026.  Kevin F. McCumber,  Clerk.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-01-23
  2. Passed House2026-01-20
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in House Jan 23, 2025

hb659/introduced-in-house.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in House (01/23/2025)

Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025

This bill requires the Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals to prioritize individuals with three or more years of legal professional experience in relevant legal areas when recommending individuals to the Department of Veterans Affairs to serve as members of the Board.

Sponsors

Rep. Julia Brownley (D) sponsors H.R. 659, and 4 members have co-sponsored it, 1 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

H.R. 659 went before 3 committees: Veterans' Affairs, Veterans' Affairs and Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee.

Veterans' Affairs
Veterans' Affairs
Referred To · Jan 26, 2026
Veterans' Affairs
Veterans' Affairs
Reported By · Sep 26, 2025 · 285 Bills
Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee
Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee
Hearings By (subcommittee) · Jun 24, 2025 · 62 Bills

Reports

1 committee report has been filed on H.R. 659, the latest H. Rept. 119-309.

Actions

H.R. 659 has taken 16 actions since Jan 23, 2025, the latest on Jan 26, 2026.

ChamberAction
Jan 26, 2026
Senate
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.Veterans' Affairs Committee
Jan 20, 202616:18
House
Mr. Bost moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
Jan 20, 202616:18
House
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H936-937)
Jan 20, 202616:18
House
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 659.
Jan 20, 202616:32
House
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H936)

Votes

H.R. 659 has not gone to a roll call.

Titles

H.R. 659 goes by 7 titles, 4 of them short titles.

  • Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025 — Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text
  • Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025 — Short Title(s) as Passed House
  • To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals to give priority to individuals with certain professional experience in recommending such individuals to serve as members of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, and for other purposes. — Official Titles from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
  • Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025 — Short Title(s) as Reported to House
  • Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025 — Display Title
  • Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025 — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals to give priority to individuals with certain professional experience in recommending such individuals to serve as members of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, and for other purposes. — Official Title as Introduced

Cost estimate

The Congressional Budget Office has filed 1 estimate for H.R. 659, the latest on Aug 7, 2025.

Lobbying

4 clients hired 4 firms and 45 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 659 in 22 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Veterans, Budget/Appropriations, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Government Issues, Transportation, Defense, Housing, Natural Resources.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIO—District of Columbia16—
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS—District of Columbia16—
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VETERANS' ADVOCATES, INC.—District of Columbia15—
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA—District of Columbia15—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO16—
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS16—
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VETERANS' ADVOCATES, INC.15—
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA15—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill. The 20 named most often, of 45.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
DANIEL HOROWITZ116
ELLIOT FRIEDMAN116
FIONA KOHRMAN116
HERB SMITH116
JON RETZER116
KEITH ABOUCHAR116
LISA SWIRSKY116
NAOMI MATHIS116
PETER DICKINSON116
SERGIO ESPINOSA116
SHAMALA CAPIZZI116
ANTHONY LIVINGSTON115
DIANE RAUBER115
GABRIEL PEDREIRA115
GRANT SCHOTT115
HEATHER ANSLEY115
JEREMY VILLANUEVA115
JOSEPH LEMAY115
JULIE HOWELL115
JUSTIN PERPICH115

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 second_quarter$590K2nd Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2026 first_quarter$410K1st Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2026 second_quarter$390K2nd Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 third_quarter$360.2K3rd Quarter - Amendme…
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 third_quarter$360.2K3rd Quarter - Amendme…
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 third_quarter$360.2K3rd Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2026 first_quarter$175.9K1st Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2025 fourth_quarter$161.3K4th Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2026 second_quarter$149.2K2nd Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2025 third_quarter$141.4K3rd Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2025 second_quarter$141.4K2nd Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2025 first_quarter$141.4K1st Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2026 second_quarter$112.1K2nd Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2026 first_quarter$108.2K1st Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2025 second_quarter$89.2K2nd Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2025 fourth_quarter$87.2K4th Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2025 third_quarter$87.2K3rd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VETERANS' ADVOCATES, INC.NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VETERANS' ADVOCATES, INC.2026 second_quarter$67K2nd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VETERANS' ADVOCATES, INC.NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VETERANS' ADVOCATES, INC.2026 first_quarter$67K1st Quarter - Report
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VETERANS' ADVOCATES, INC.NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VETERANS' ADVOCATES, INC.2025 fourth_quarter$67K4th Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 659 under Armed Forces and National Security, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 3 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 659’s is Armed Forces and National Security.

hr659/policy-areas.txt
Armed Forces and National SecurityAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Legislative Subjects

H.R. 659 carries 3 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Administrative remedies to Veterans' pensions and compensation.

hr659/subjects.txt
Administrative remediesLawyers and legal servicesVeterans' pensions and compensation

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 659, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 14 (Thursday, January 23, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Ms. BROWNLEY:H.R. 659.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article 1 Section 8[Page H388]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com