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Right to Representation for Department of Veterans Affairs Workers Act of 2025
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to give employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs opportunities to be represented by the representatives of their choices in examinations of the employees in connection with examinations that may result in disciplinary action, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to give covered Department of Veterans Affairs employees the opportunity to be represented by a representative of their choice during any examination if the employee believes the examination may result in disciplinary action and the employee requests such representation. The representation may occur during duty time if applicable. The right to representation applies to most VA employees but excludes senior executive service members, certain political appointees, and individuals in specific senior leadership positions.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
10 cosponsors
- Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD] (D-MD)
- Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV)
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM)
- Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI)
- Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME] (I-ME)
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA)
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA)
- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT)
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Richard Blumenthal’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $9,500
- FREEPOINT COMMODITIES LLC $6,600
- ALIX PARTNERS $6,600
- PALANTIR $6,600
- KRUX INC. $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Richard Blumenthal → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Nov 18, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. · senate
- Nov 18, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 18, 2025
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Markey, Ms. Hirono, Mr. King, Ms. Alsobrooks, Mr. Padilla, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Duckworth, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to give employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs opportunities to be represented by the representatives of their choices in examinations of the employees in connection with examinations that may result in disciplinary action, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Right to Representation for Department of Veterans Affairs Workers Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. RIGHT TO REPRESENTATION FOR EMPLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) In General.—Subchapter I of chapter 7 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 707 the following new section: “Sec. 708. Employee right to representation
“(a) In General.—The Secretary shall give to each covered employee an opportunity to be represented by a representative of their choice, on duty time if applicable, of the covered employee at any examination of such covered employee in connection with an examination carried out by the Secretary if—
“(1) the covered employee believes that the examination may result in disciplinary action against the covered employee; and
“(2) the covered employee requests the representation.
“(b) Definitions.—In this section:
“(1) The term ‘covered employee’ means an individual occupying a position at the Department, but does not include—
“(A) an individual occupying a senior executive position (as defined in section 713(d) of this title);
“(B) an individual appointed pursuant to sections 7306, 7401(4), or 7405 of this title; or
“(C) a political appointee.
“(2) The term ‘political appointee’ has the meaning given such term in section 714(h) of this title.”.
(b) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 7 of such title is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 707 the following new item:
“708. Employee right to representation.”. <all>
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