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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 5, 2025

Mr. Sullivan (for himself, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Budd, Mr. Wicker, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Daines, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Ricketts, Mr. Tuberville, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Tillis, and Ms. Ernst) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To protect regular order for budgeting for the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 “Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act of 2025” or the “PRO Veterans Act of 2025”.

SEC. 2. PROTECTING REGULAR ORDER FOR VETERANS.

(a) Quarterly Briefings on Department of Veterans Affairs Budgetary Shortfalls.—

(1) Quarterly briefings.—

(A) Quarterly briefings required.—During the first quarter beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act and in each quarter thereafter until the date that is three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide to the appropriate committees of Congress a quarterly briefing, in person, on the budget of the Department of Veterans Affairs and any shortfall the Department may be experiencing.

(B) Plans.—In any case in which the Secretary informs Congress during a briefing under paragraph (1) that the Department is experiencing a shortfall, the Secretary shall, during such briefing, present the plans of the Secretary to address or mitigate the shortfall.

(2) Definitions.—In this subsection:

(A) Appropriate committees of congress.—The term “appropriate committees of Congress” means—

(i) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(ii) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(B) Shortfall.—The term “shortfall”, with respect to a fiscal year, means that the amount of appropriations required by the Department of Veterans Affairs for such fiscal year to meet all of the statutory obligations of the Department during that fiscal year exceeds the amount of appropriations requested for the Department for that fiscal year in the budget of the President submitted pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, for that fiscal year.

(b) Limitations on Provision of Incentives for Critical Skills to Senior Executive Service Employees of Department of Veterans Affairs.— Section 706(d) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(7)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B)(ii), a critical skill incentive may not be provided under paragraph (1) to an employee of the Department employed in a Senior Executive Service position, or a position in another comparable system for senior-level Government employees, as defined by the Secretary, whose position is at the Central Office of the Department, including the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration, regardless of the actual location where the employee performs the functions of the position.

“(B)(i) A critical skill incentive provided under paragraph (1) to an employee of the Department employed in a Senior Executive Service position, or a position in another comparable system for senior-level Government employees, as defined by the Secretary, not described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph may only be provided—

“(I) on an individual basis and may not be provided to a group of such employees; and

“(II) upon approval of the following officers or those serving in an acting capacity: “(aa) The Under Secretary for Benefits, the Under Secretary for Health, or the Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs. “(bb) The Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration.

“(cc) The Director of the Office of Management or the Chief Financial Officer.

“(dd) The Assistant Secretary for Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. “(ee) The General Counsel. “(ff) Such other officers as the Secretary determines appropriate.

“(ii) In the case of an employee of the Department employed in a Senior Executive Service position, or a position in another comparable system for senior-level Government employees, as defined by the Secretary, whose position is primarily at the Central Office of the Department, but who performs some portion of the employee’s job function at other facilities of the Department, as defined by the Secretary, not at Central Office—

“(I) the employee shall not be considered described in subparagraph (A) with respect to the portion of the employee’s job function that is based out of non-Central Office facilities of the Department; and

“(II) any critical skill incentive provided under paragraph (1) to the employee for the portion of the employee’s job function that is based out of facilities of the Department other than the Central Office shall be proportionate to the time spent at those Department facilities.

“(C)(i) Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of the Protecting Regular Order for Veterans Act of 2025, and not less frequently than once each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives an annual report on the employees of the Department employed in a Senior Executive Service position, or a position in another comparable system for senior-level Government employees, as defined by the Secretary, who were provided a critical skill incentive under paragraph (1).

“(ii) Reports submitted pursuant to clause (i) may be submitted by incorporating their contents into other congressionally mandated reports to the committees described in such clause.

“(D) In this paragraph, the term ‘Senior Executive Service position’ has the meaning given such term in section 3132(a) of title 5.”. <all>