VA Police Recruitment and Retention Act of 2026

Timothy M. Kennedy

Democrat · NY · Representative

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

No cosponsors on record. Bills can pass without cosponsors — this often means the sponsor introduced the bill alone, either because it's a messaging bill, a chairman's mark, or simply early in the legislative cycle.

Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.

2026-04-15

Source: Congress.gov

This bill would make it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to hire and keep police officers by offering them better pay, benefits, and working conditions. The goal is to address staffing shortages at VA facilities by making police jobs there more competitive with other law enforcement positions. This would affect both the VA officers who work at veterans' hospitals and clinics and the veterans who rely on those facilities for security and services.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8010 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8010 To prohibit the downgrading of law enforcement positions in the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 19, 2026 Mr. Kennedy of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To prohibit the downgrading of law enforcement positions in 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 ``VA Police Recruitment and Retention Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DOWNGRADING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT POSITIONS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. (a) Prohibition.--No official in the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Office of Personnel Management, or any other department or agency may propose, initiate, or carry out a position downgrade for any covered VA position, and no Federal funds may be used to propose, initiate, or carry out a position downgrade for any such position. (b) Retroactive Application.--Any position downgrade for a covered VA position proposed, initiated, or carried out during the period beginning October 1, 2025, and ending on the date of the enactment of this Act shall have no force or effect. Any such position subjected to a position downgrade during this period shall be returned to the status it had prior to the position downgrade. Any employee occupying such a position shall receive all pay to which they otherwise would have been entitled. (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section: (1) The term ``covered VA position'' means a position carrying out law enforcement functions within the Department of Veterans Affairs, whether permanent, temporary, full-time, part-time, or intermittent, and without regard to the source of funding for the position. (2) The term ``position downgrade'' means a consistency review, incumbent-only review, or other classification action taken by the Office of Personnel Management or any other department or agency pursuant to chapter 51 of title 5, United States Code, or similar authority, that may result in a loss of grade or pay associated with a position or set of positions, without regard to whether an employee occupying such a position is entitled to or otherwise provided with retained grade or pay. <all>

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