House Passes Major Richard Star Act 392 to 18 to End the Wounded Veteran Tax

The House of Representatives passed the Major Richard Star Act on Thursday by a vote of 392 to 18, a recorded vote that ends a six-year push in the House to let combat-injured veterans keep both their military retirement pay and their VA disability compensation in full. The bill, H.R. 2102, now goes to the Senate.

The House Clerk recorded the vote at 10:59 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2026. Voting yes were 181 Republicans, 210 Democrats and one independent. All 18 votes against came from Republicans, and 23 members did not vote. The margin was the product of a discharge petition, a rarely used procedure that lets 218 members force a bill to the floor over the objection of House leaders.

What the bill changes

Under current law, veterans who are medically retired for combat injuries before completing 20 years of service lose one dollar of military retirement pay for every dollar of VA disability compensation they receive. Veterans who serve the full 20 years collect both payments. The bill removes that offset for the medically retired group.

The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs put the number affected at roughly 59,000 medically retired, combat-injured veterans. The Military Officers Association of America, one of the groups that campaigned for the bill, said ending the offset could mean an additional $1,200 a month on average for the veterans covered, and that more than 50,000 veterans are eligible. Under the bill, veterans could choose between their current mix of retirement pay and Combat-Related Special Compensation, or full retirement pay together with their VA benefits, the association said.

A six-year fight

Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida first introduced the bill in 2020. It is named for Major Richard Star, a U.S. Army Reserve soldier who spoke publicly for the change while battling cancer. Star died on Feb. 13, 2021, at age 51, before any version reached a floor vote.

"Six years ago, Major Star asked Congress to fix this. He died before we could," said Rep. Mark Takano of California, the top Democrat on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. "Today the House did what a bipartisan majority has wanted to do for years."

Rep. Raul Ruiz of California, a lead sponsor, called the vote "a historic victory for combat-wounded veterans and their families" and said the Senate must act next. The bill drew more than 330 cosponsors in the House and 79 in the Senate in this Congress, and it is backed by a long list of veterans groups, among them the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, The American Legion and the Wounded Warrior Project.

The path to the floor was not smooth. Takano filed the discharge petition on May 21, 2026, and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina gave it its 218th signature on Sept. 15. A voice vote on Nov. 11 was ruled not to have passed, and the recorded vote was postponed to Thursday, when it passed.

What happens next

The Senate companion bill, S. 1032, is led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and still awaits action. The Military Officers Association of America records that the Senate bill was put forward for unanimous consent on Oct. 8, 2025, on March 3, 2026, and again on June 9 and 17, 2026, and was blocked by an objection each time. House passage alone does not change any veteran's pay. The Senate must pass the bill and the president must sign it before the offset ends.