Congress Nears Vote on Veterans Healthcare Package as Approval Numbers Signal Midterm Risk
Congress is expected to vote within weeks on the "Take Care of America's Veterans Act," a roughly 60-measure bundle built on the VA MISSION Act of 2018 foundation, as a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted with Veteran Action shows only 53% of military voters rate the Trump administration's handling of veterans' issues positively — and just 57% of likely military voters say they would back the Republican candidate.
Key takeaways
- Congress is expected to vote within weeks on the "Take Care of America's Veterans Act," a roughly 60-measure bundle built on the VA MISSION Act of 2018.
- A Rasmussen Reports survey with Veteran Action found only 53% of military voters rate the Trump administration's handling of veterans' issues positively, and 57% of likely military voters say they would back the Republican candidate.
- The bill incorporates the "Veterans' ACCESS Act" and the "Major Richard Star Act" and would codify veterans' right to choose between VA and community care.
- Ninety percent of survey respondents support letting veterans use providers outside the VA, and 94% want a Veterans' Bill of Rights spelling out existing protections.
- Seventy-five percent of veteran voters say they are more likely to support a candidate who backs the "Veterans' ACCESS Act."
Congress is expected to vote within weeks on the "Take Care of America's Veterans Act," a roughly 60-measure bundle built on the VA MISSION Act of 2018 foundation, as a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted with Veteran Action shows only 53% of military voters rate the Trump administration's handling of veterans' issues positively — and just 57% of likely military voters say they would back the Republican candidate.
Bill's Scope and Policy Backstory
The legislation incorporates the "Veterans' ACCESS Act" and the "Major Richard Star Act," and would codify veterans' right to choose between VA and community care. The MISSION Act, signed in 2018, first established that choice. The Biden administration narrowed it, and wait times at VA facilities lengthened. A VA inspector general investigation found that delays at the Fayetteville, Ark., VA contributed to a cancer patient's death. In Hampton, Va., the VA eliminated chiropractic care for veterans managing chronic pain, leaving many to weigh opioids against no treatment.
Demand Signal Is Clear
The Rasmussen survey puts veterans' preferences in sharp relief. Ninety percent of respondents support giving veterans the right to use healthcare providers outside the VA; 94% want a Veterans' Bill of Rights that explicitly spells out existing protections. Trump holds 60% approval among military voters overall, but the 7-point gap between that figure and the 53% who rate his administration's veterans' affairs handling positively points to a specific performance concern, not a broader rejection.
Midterm Math and Maine
The political calculus is direct. Seventy-five percent of veteran voters say they are more likely to support a candidate who backs the "Veterans' ACCESS Act." Maine's Senate race, among the most competitive in the country, features Republican Sen. Susan Collins against a combat veteran challenger — the kind of contest where a veterans' affairs performance gap closes fast if legislation stalls.
VA Leadership and the Institutional Record
The case for VA Secretary Doug Collins to publicly endorse the bill and direct regional offices to stop slow-walking community care referrals draws on institutional precedent. At the Phoenix VA, secret wait lists concealed appointment backlogs while more than 200 veterans died with open requests still pending. Opposition to the current bill includes Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, California Rep. Mark Takano, and several unions. Trump's first-term record on veterans encompasses the "Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act," the "Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act," and the Forever GI Bill — a foundation the pending vote would either extend or leave incomplete.
Related reading
Filed by the newsroom of MarketPR on June 25, 2026. Source: foxnews.com. Indicative figures are not investment advice.