Division D — DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS EXTENDERS
Division Overview
Overview
This division does not fund the Department of Veterans Affairs as a whole. It is a short-term “extenders” package: it keeps a set of existing VA health, benefits, housing, and oversight authorities from expiring on September 30, 2026, and pushes most of them to December 11, 2026. A few programs also get a partial-year dollar amount for that same window (October 1 through December 11, 2026).
Total Spending
There is no single department-wide total in this division. The only new dollar amounts written into the text are partial-year sums for six programs. Added together, those amounts are $136,740,825 for October 1–December 11, 2026 (72 days, about 20% of a year).
Most sections only change an expiration date. They do not state what those authorities cost. Funding for those programs, if any, would come from other laws or from VA’s regular budget, which is not in this division.
The partial-year figures line up with a 72/365 pro-rata share of a full year. Where the bill already states an annual amount, that match is exact (rounded to the nearest dollar).
Key Funding Areas
Amounts below are what this division actually writes in for October 1–December 11, 2026, unless noted.
- Supportive services for very low-income veteran families in permanent housing: $130,191,781 — the largest item by far. Financial assistance so very low-income veteran families can stay in permanent housing. The bill does not state a full-year figure here; $130.2 million is the 72-day amount (mathematically consistent with about $660 million for a full year, which is not written in this text).
- Adaptive sports programs for disabled veterans and service members: $3,156,165 — grants and related authority for adaptive sports. Again, only the 72-day amount is stated (consistent with about $16 million for a full year, not stated here).
- Mental health support for family caregivers of veterans: $1,972,603 for the 72-day period, on top of $10 million already authorized for each of fiscal years 2025 and 2026 — grants or contracts for caregiver mental health support.
- Grants for homeless veterans with special needs: $986,302 for the 72-day period, on top of $5 million for each fiscal year 2007 through 2026.
- Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (RANGE) program (Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental Health Act): $236,713 for the 72-day period, on top of $1.2 million for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 — rural veterans’ mental health outreach.
- Homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children reintegration grants: $197,261 for the 72-day period, on top of $1 million for each fiscal year 2011 through 2026.
Notable Provisions
Almost every change is the same mechanical edit: strike “September 30, 2026” and insert “December 11, 2026.” That is a roughly 10-week extension, not a new program.
Health care (Title I) — authorities extended to December 11, 2026, with no new dollar amount in this text:
- VA may keep collecting copayments for hospital care and nursing home care.
- VA must keep providing nursing home care to certain veterans with service-connected disabilities.
- Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program.
- Reimbursement of ambulance costs for certain rural veterans.
- Incentive program for sharing health care resources between VA and the Department of Defense.
- Plus the RANGE and caregiver mental-health funding noted above.
Benefits (Title II) — date extensions only:
- VA may keep a regional office in the Republic of the Philippines.
- Veterans can keep getting educational assistance restored when a school closes or is disapproved.
Housing (Title III):
- Treatment and rehabilitation authority for seriously mentally ill and homeless veterans, including extra services at certain locations.
- Housing assistance for homeless veterans.
- Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans.
- Help adapting a family member’s home when a disabled veteran is living there temporarily.
- Specially adapted housing assistive technology grant program.
- Plus the three housing dollar amounts listed above (very low-income families, special-needs homeless grants, and women veterans / veterans with children).
Other matters (Title IV):
- VA may keep transporting people to and from VA facilities.
- VA Inspector General subpoena authority.
- Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans.
- Vendee loan program (VA financing related to homes VA has taken back).
- Authority to transfer real property.
- Adaptive sports funding noted above.
- Plot allowances are the one date that does not match the rest: the cutoff moves from October 1, 2026, to December 12, 2026 (one day later than the December 11 date used everywhere else).
No new programs are created. The text does not include policy restrictions, funding cuts, or changes to who is eligible.
Who Benefits
- Veterans using VA health care, including those who pay copays, need nursing home care tied to a service-connected disability, or need rides or ambulance reimbursement in rural areas.
- Veterans at risk of suicide, through the Parker Gordon Fox grant program, and rural veterans through the RANGE mental health program.
- Family caregivers of veterans, through mental health support grants.
- Homeless veterans, veterans with serious mental illness, veterans with special needs, and homeless women veterans and veterans with children.
- Very low-income veteran families trying to stay in permanent housing — this is where most of the money in this division goes.
- Disabled veterans and disabled service members, through adaptive sports and specially adapted housing help.
- Student veterans whose schools close or lose approval.
- Veterans in the Philippines served by the VA regional office there, and families using burial plot allowances.
- VA and DoD staff who share medical resources, and the VA Inspector General, whose subpoena power is kept in place.
Plain English Summary
This slice of the bill is a short bridge, not the VA’s main budget. A bunch of veterans’ programs were set to run out on September 30, 2026 — suicide-prevention grants, rural mental health, caregiver support, homeless-veteran housing help, specially adapted housing, a VA office in the Philippines, the Inspector General’s subpoena power, and others. Congress would keep those authorities going until December 11, 2026 (one burial benefit until December 12). For a handful of programs it also writes a partial check for those 72 days, totaling about $136.7 million. Almost all of that — about $130.2 million — is help for very low-income veteran families to stay housed. Everything else in the dollar list is under a few million for that same short window. If you want the VA’s full-year budget, it is not in this division.
Titles
Title Summary
Title I extends several Department of Veterans Affairs health-care authorities and two related funding streams that would otherwise expire on September 30, 2026, generally through December 11, 2026. It covers VA hospital and nursing-home copayment authority, nursing-home care for certain service-connected veterans, the Rural Access Network for Growth Enhancement (RANGE) mental-health program, the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, mental-health support grants for family caregivers, rural ambulance-cost reimbursement, and the VA–Department of Defense health-resource sharing incentive. Only two sections add new dollar amounts; both are prorated for October 1–December 11, 2026.
Spending Breakdown
| Line Item | Amount | Purpose |
| RANGE program (Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans Mental Health Act), Oct. 1–Dec. 11, 2026 | $236,713 | Prorated continuation of rural veterans mental-health network expansion |
| RANGE program, each of FY 2022–2026 (restated) | $1,200,000 | Existing annual funding level carried forward in the amended statute |
| Mental-health support grants/contracts for family caregivers (38 U.S.C. § 1720K), Oct. 1–Dec. 11, 2026 | $1,972,603 | Prorated continuation of caregiver mental-health support |
| Caregiver mental-health grants, each of FY 2025 and 2026 (restated) | $10,000,000 | Existing annual funding level carried forward in the amended statute |
| Copayment collection; nursing-home care mandate; Fox suicide-prevention grants; rural ambulance reimbursement; VA–DoD sharing incentive | No amount stated | Date-only extensions through December 11, 2026 |
New amounts in this title: $236,713 + $1,972,603 = $2,209,316 for the partial period. The $1,200,000 and $10,000,000 figures restate prior annual levels rather than add a full extra year.
Notable Sections
- No new programs. Every section amends an existing statute or public law by changing an expiration date or adding a short continuation period.
- Secs. 4103 and 4105 are the only funding extensions. The added amounts match a 72-day proration of the prior annual levels ($1.2 million and $10 million) for October 1 through December 11, 2026.
- Secs. 4101, 4102, 4104, 4106, and 4107 extend authorities only—copayment collection, required nursing-home care for certain service-connected veterans, the Fox suicide-prevention grant program, rural ambulance reimbursement, and the VA–DoD resource-sharing incentive—with no dollar figures in the text.
- No restrictions, riders, or contested policy changes appear in this title; the effect is to avoid a lapse after September 30, 2026.
Plain English
This title keeps several veterans’ health benefits and two small mental-health funding streams from expiring at the end of September 2026, carrying them through December 11, 2026, and adds about $2.2 million in prorated funds for rural mental-health outreach and caregiver mental-health support.
Title II — Benefits extends two existing Department of Veterans Affairs authorities under title 38, United States Code. It does not appropriate money. It only moves two sunset dates from September 30, 2026, to December 11, 2026.
Title Summary
This title covers VA benefits administration, not program funding. Section 4201 extends authority to keep a VA regional office in the Republic of the Philippines. Section 4202 extends the requirement to restore educational-assistance entitlement when a school closes or a course or program is disapproved. Both are short date extensions of current law.
Spending Breakdown
| Line Item | Amount | Purpose |
| Regional office in the Republic of the Philippines (38 U.S.C. § 315(b)) | No dollar amount in this title | Extends authority to maintain the office from September 30, 2026, to December 11, 2026 |
| Restoration of educational assistance after school closure or disapproval (38 U.S.C. § 3699(c)(2)(C)) | No dollar amount in this title | Extends that restoration requirement from September 30, 2026, to December 11, 2026 |
Notable Sections
- Sec. 4201 does not create a new office. It continues an existing Philippines regional-office authority for about 10 additional weeks.
- Sec. 4202 does not create a new education benefit. It continues the existing rule that restores entitlement when an institution closes or is disapproved, through the same date.
- No restrictions, funding conditions, or new programs appear in this title. The only change in each section is the date.
Plain English
Veterans keep access to the VA’s Philippines office, and veterans whose schools close or lose approval can still have education benefits restored, through December 11, 2026, instead of September 30, 2026.
Title Summary
Title III extends existing veterans’ homelessness, supportive-services, and specially adapted housing authorities codified in title 38, United States Code. It does not create new programs. It moves expiration dates from September 30, 2026, to December 11, 2026, and authorizes pro-rated funding for three grant programs for October 1, 2026, through December 11, 2026.
Spending Breakdown
Amounts below are the new stub-period authorizations in this title (October 1–December 11, 2026). Other sections extend legal authority only and set no dollar amount here.
| Line Item | Amount | Purpose |
| Homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children reintegration grants (38 U.S.C. § 2021A) | $197,261 | Pro-rated authorization for reintegration grants for that partial period; the existing $1,000,000 per year for FY2011–FY2026 is retained |
| Supportive services for very low-income veteran families in permanent housing (38 U.S.C. § 2044) | $130,191,781 | Financial assistance for supportive services for that partial period |
| Grants for homeless veterans with special needs (38 U.S.C. § 2061) | $986,302 | Pro-rated grant funding for that partial period; the existing $5,000,000 per year for FY2007–FY2026 is retained |
| Total specified in this title | $131,375,344 |
Authority-only extensions (no amount in this title): treatment and rehabilitation for seriously mentally ill and homeless veterans, including additional services at certain locations (§§ 2031, 2033); housing assistance for homeless veterans (§ 2041); Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans (§ 2066); specially adapted housing aid for disabled veterans temporarily living in a family member’s home (§ 2102A); and the specially adapted housing assistive technology grant program (§ 2108).
Notable Sections
- Short stopgap, not a full year. Every extension runs only through December 11, 2026, not through the end of fiscal year 2027.
- No new programs. Sections 4301–4308 only continue authorities that were set to expire on September 30, 2026.
- Three funded extensions are pro-rated. The $197,261 and $986,302 figures match about 72/365 of the existing $1 million and $5 million annual authorizations. Section 4304 adds $130,191,781 for supportive services without restating a full-year figure in this title.
- No restrictions or controversial riders appear in the title text.
Plain English
This title keeps veterans’ homelessness and accessible-housing programs from expiring on September 30, 2026, and funds three of them on a short-term, pro-rated basis through December 11, 2026.
Title Summary
Title IV extends several existing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) authorities that were scheduled to expire in late September or early October 2026, generally through December 11, 2026 (December 12, 2026 for plot allowances). It does not create new programs. The only appropriation in the title is a short-term amount for adaptive sports programs for disabled veterans and members of the Armed Forces.
Spending Breakdown
| Line Item | Amount | Purpose |
| Adaptive sports programs (38 U.S.C. § 521A) | $3,156,165 | Funds adaptive sports for disabled veterans and servicemembers for Oct. 1, 2026–Dec. 11, 2026, and extends program authority through that date |
| VA beneficiary transportation authority | No amount specified | Extends authority for the VA Secretary to transport individuals to and from VA facilities through Dec. 11, 2026 |
| VA Inspector General subpoena authority | No amount specified | Extends the VA IG’s subpoena authority through Dec. 11, 2026 |
| Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans | No amount specified | Extends the committee’s authority through Dec. 11, 2026 |
| Plot allowances | No amount specified | Extends related authority from Oct. 1, 2026 to Dec. 12, 2026 |
| Vendee loan program | No amount specified | Extends program authority through Dec. 11, 2026 |
| Transfer of real property | No amount specified | Extends VA authority to transfer real property through Dec. 11, 2026 |
Notable Sections
- Sec. 4403 is the only section that adds funding: $3,156,165 for adaptive sports for a roughly 10-week period, and it also extends the program’s overall authorization through December 11, 2026.
- Secs. 4401–4402 and 4404–4407 are date-only extensions of existing authorities (transportation, IG subpoenas, the minority veterans advisory committee, burial plot allowances, the vendee loan program, and real-property transfers). They do not establish new programs or set new funding levels in this title.
- No restrictions, policy riders, or contested provisions appear in the text. The changes are short-term extensions of authorities already in law.
Plain English
This title keeps several VA programs and legal authorities from expiring in fall 2026 by extending them into mid-December, and it sets aside about $3.2 million so adaptive sports for disabled veterans and servicemembers can continue during that short period.