EXCLUSIVE — A bipartisan group of House lawmakers want to improve training for examiners handling veterans‘ military sexual trauma through new legislation dropping on Tuesday, as claims of mistreatment are steadily increasing.
The bill, titled the Improving VA Training for Military Sexual Trauma Claims Act, would direct Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to create a new training plan for those examining military sexual trauma claims. These workers, contracted disability compensation examiners, are currently only required to undergo online sensitivity training before handling the claims.
MST, or military sexual trauma, refers to sexual harassment or sexual assault that occurs during an individual’s service in the military on or off duty, or on or off base. Women typically experience MST more than men, but the VA’s National Center for PTSD stresses that all individuals regardless of sex, age, race, or sexual orientation can and have experienced MST.
A survey in 2018 found that 6.2% of active-duty women and 0.7% of active-duty men experienced sexual assault in the previous year, and 24.2% of active-duty women and 6.3% of active-duty men experienced sexual harassment in the previous year.
Reps. Young Kim (R-CA), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) are leading the charge to improve examiners’ training capabilities to make sure they are best prepared to handle veterans’ claims without incurring additional harm.
The department is facing an increase in MST claims, according to VA officials. The VA received 57,400 claims in fiscal 2024, up 18% from the previous year, and approved 63% of them, which is up from 40% over a decade ago.
The bill would require annual training for all employees within the Veterans Benefits Administration, as well as improve the quality assurance of CDCEs and obtain all service and personnel medical records for PTSD-related claims filed for in-service personal assault.
Kim said in a statement the legislation would provide “much-needed updates” to the training programs, which will reassure veterans filing their claims that “they are valued and will receive the care they deserve.”
“Veterans filing MST claims already face unthinkable trauma. The VA’s process shouldn’t cause more pain,” Kim said.
Budzinski added that improving the training would ensure the process “does not retraumatize survivors of military sexual trauma.”
“Too many of our nation’s service members come home with invisible wounds,” she said in a statement. “We can’t allow our disability claims process to deepen them.”
The legislation was introduced in the 118th Congress but never taken up by the full House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
VA WILL NO LONGER COVER GENDER REASSIGNMENT TREATMENT
Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the House, causing Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to often rely on Democrats to push contentious legislation over the finish line. Given the Improving VA Training for Military Sexual Trauma Claims Act is originally bipartisan, it is likely the bill could pass the House chamber without difficulty.
However, Republicans, who hold a trifecta, have been bogged down with legislation surrounding stop-gap spending deals and the upcoming cross-chamber budget fight over how to best handle reconciliation. The budget reconciliation process, which allows for legislation to bypass the filibuster and more quickly become law, is under a tight schedule by Johnson, who has floated getting President Donald Trump’s budget agenda squared away around Memorial Day.