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S. 1204

U.S. Senate•Engrossed

Summary

S. 1204, the Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act, was introduced in the Senate on Mar 31, 2025 by Sen. Margaret Hassan (D) with 8 co-sponsors. It last saw action on Dec 19, 2025: Held at the desk.

Record

Text

S. 1204 has 8 co-sponsors.

sb1204/engrossed-in-senate.txt
119 S1204 ES: Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act
 U.S. Senate
 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.
 119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 1204  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES  AN ACT
To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain spouses eligible for services under the disabled veterans’ outreach program, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act  .
2.
Eligibility of spouses for services under the disabled veterans’ outreach program
Section 4103A of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
in paragraph (1)—
(i)
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting  and eligible persons  after  eligible veterans ; and
(ii)
in subparagraph (C), by inserting  , and eligible persons,  after  Other eligible veterans ;
(B)
in paragraph (2), by inserting  and eligible persons  after  veterans  each place it appears; and
(C)
in paragraph (3)—
(i)
by inserting  or eligible person  after  veteran  each place it appears; and
(ii)
by inserting  or eligible person’s  after  veteran’s ;
(2)
in subsection (d)(1)—
(A)
by inserting  and eligible persons  after  eligible veterans  each place it appears; and
(B)
by striking  non-veteran-related ; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
(e)
Eligible person defined
In this section, the term  eligible person  means—
(1)
any spouse described in section 4101(5) of this title; or
(2)
the spouse of any person who died while a member of the Armed Forces.
 .
    Passed the Senate December 18, 2025.    Secretary

Tracker

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

  1. Introduced2025-03-31
  2. Passed Senate2025-12-18
  3. Passed House
  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.

Passed Senate Dec 18, 2025

sb1204/passed-senate.md

Shown Here:
Passed Senate (12/18/2025)

Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act

This bill expands eligibility for the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program to the spouses of certain veterans and members of the Armed Forces. Such program is administered by the Department of Labor and generally provides career and employment services to disabled veterans.

The bill expands eligibility for the program to spouses of

  • persons who died while members of the Armed Forces;
  • persons who died of a service-connected disability;
  • members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty who, for more than 90 days, are listed as missing in action, captured by a hostile force, or forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by a foreign government power;
  • persons who have a total permanent disability resulting from a service-connected disability; and
  • persons who died while an evaluated total disability was in existence.

Sponsors

Sen. Margaret Hassan (D) sponsors S. 1204, and 8 members have co-sponsored it, all of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

S. 1204 went before 1 committee: Veterans' Affairs.

Veterans' Affairs
Veterans' Affairs
Discharged From · Dec 18, 2025

Actions

S. 1204 has taken 8 actions since Mar 31, 2025, the latest on Dec 19, 2025.

ChamberAction
Dec 19, 2025
Senate
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Dec 19, 202514:33
House
Received in the House.
Dec 19, 202514:40
House
Held at the desk.
Dec 18, 2025
Senate
Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.Veterans' Affairs Committee
Dec 18, 2025
Senate
Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8895; text: CR S8895)

Votes

S. 1204 has not gone to a roll call.

2 bills are related to S. 1204.

Titles

S. 1204 goes by 4 titles, 2 of them short titles.

  • Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act — Display Title
  • Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act — Short Title(s) as Passed Senate
  • Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain spouses eligible for services under the disabled veterans' outreach program, and for other purposes. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

1 client hired 1 firm and 9 registered lobbyists who named S. 1204 in 5 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.

Clients

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

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS—District of Columbia15—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS15—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
JON RETZER115
NAOMI MATHIS115
PETER DICKINSON115
SHAMALA CAPIZZI115
JOSEPH LEMAY114
SHANE LIERMANN114
JOY ILEM113
KEVIN MILLER112
MARQUIS BAREFIELD111

Filings

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

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
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

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files S. 1204 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; S. 1204’s is Armed Forces and National Security.

s1204/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

S. 1204 carries 3 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Military personnel and dependents to Veterans' pensions and compensation.

s1204/subjects.txt
Military personnel and dependentsVeterans' education, employment, rehabilitationVeterans' pensions and compensation

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com