Stopgap budget bill includes extra funds for military, VA programs

A stopgap federal spending bill unveiled by House Republicans this weekend would add $6 billion in new spending for the Defense Department and another $6 billion for Veterans Affairs operations this fiscal year, but it still could cause financial headaches for both agencies in the end.

That’s because the proposal — which holds government spending at last fiscal year’s levels, with a few adjustments — would provide less funding for military projects than Pentagon leaders had hoped for this fiscal year and dump the controversial Toxic Exposures Fund for the VA next year. Democrats immediately decried the proposal as unworkable and unfair.

“This continuing resolution is a blank check for Elon Musk and creates more flexibility for him to steal from the middle class, seniors, veterans, working people, small businesses, and farmers to pay for tax breaks for billionaires,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.

“Veterans will suffer with higher housing costs, poorer quality of health care at the VA, and no advance funding for treatment from exposure to toxic chemicals.”

The funding bill — or an alternative spending package — must be approved by lawmakers before midnight Friday to prevent a partial government shutdown. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump took to social media to urge support for the measure, calling it “a very good funding bill” that will sustain critical government programs until next fall.

“Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the country’s ‘financial house’ in order,” Trump wrote.

House lawmakers are hoping to advance the measure Tuesday night. Republicans hold the majority in both the House and the Senate, but they will need Democratic support in the upper chamber to quickly pass the funding bill.

That may be difficult, given the numerous conservative priorities packed into the legislation.

The bill cuts overall nondefense spending by $13 billion this fiscal year while increasing defense spending by $6 billion.

That would bring total defense spending for this fiscal year to roughly $847 billion, still short of the $850 billion-plus that defense planners had hoped for in fiscal 2025. Officials have warned the smaller number will mean delays in some program starts and new equipment purchases, although specifics will still need to be finalized after a budget deal is passed.

The extra $6 billion for VA is also about $600 million less than what the last administration predicted would be needed to cover shortfalls within department operations, largely due to increased medical care and benefits among veterans.

VA Secretary Doug Collins has not weighed in with new budget estimates since taking office last month, but he has touted nearly $1 billion in savings from cutting contracts in recent weeks. That money could offset some of the budget gaps.

So far, Democrats have focused their concerns for VA funding on the Toxic Exposure Fund, a target of Republican lawmakers in recent years.

The account was created after passage of the 2022 PACT Act as a way to ensure that money would be available to cover the costs associated with expanded benefits for illnesses linked to military toxic exposures, like burn pit smoke and Agent Orange water contamination.

Republicans have charged that the account is essentially a slush fund without any oversight, and they pushed to move that money back into the standard VA budgeting process. However, such a move would create complications for how nondefense spending is calculated, leading to cuts in other programs and no guaranteed funding account for the toxic exposure benefits.

Under the Republican plan, the Toxic Exposures Fund would not be affected in fiscal 2025 but would be dropped in fiscal 2026. Lawmakers could add the roughly $23 billion in advance money planned for the fund next year into other parts of the budget in later fiscal legislation.

But debate over those future issues won’t come until later. Lawmakers have only four days left before the possibility of a government shutdown, which could halt paychecks for military members and furlough hundreds of thousands of employees in the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments.