A question of how to empower disabled veterans who want to work arose from an encouraging moment of bipartisan agreement on Capitol Hill. On October 29, 2025, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs convened a hearing titled “Putting Veterans First: Is the Current VA Disability System Keeping Its Promise?” in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The session brought together a cross-section of voices—from Inspector General Cheryl Mason and GAO Director Elizabeth Curda to leading representatives of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). While early testimony centered on the structure and accountability of the VA’s disability compensation system, the conversation and debate later pivoted to a more forward-looking question:
How can Congress and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) best connect rehabilitation with real-world employability through programs such as the Department’s Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program and other programs like the SAVE Farm and Heroes MAKE America?
Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS), Ranking Member and Senior Senator from Kansas, stated in part,
“I saw where a group for Fort Riley [U.S. Army] soldiers who were about to end their time in the military service spent time in Wichita, Kansas, at the aviation and aircraft companies learning about opportunities for their future. There is a significant demand for the skillset, the integrity, the moral values of a soldier, of a member of our military; there’s demand for that work and yet we may not be taking sufficient advantage of the opportunity that a person who is leaving military service can provide value to a company;” adding, “we’ve got a program in Kansas to interest soldiers as they depart in agriculture to become farmers.”
Chairman Moran was likely referring to The Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education (SAVE) Farm—a nonprofit agricultural training program near Manhattan, Kansas—and Heroes MAKE America, a manufacturing and aviation-training partnership. Both programs are designed to help transitioning service members and veterans apply their military discipline, leadership, and technical aptitude to civilian careers—and both programs have been remarkably successful at meeting their goals.
The SAVE Farm introduces participants to sustainable farming, livestock management, and agribusiness operations while providing therapeutic value for those recovering from physical or psychological wounds. Heroes MAKE America, developed by The Manufacturing Institute, connects departing soldiers from Fort Riley—and beyond—with aircraft and manufacturing companies seeking skilled technicians across the growing aviation corridor. The program is strengthened by partnerships with respected corporate and philanthropic leaders, including the Caterpillar Foundation, GE Aerospace Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, and Beechcraft—each investing in the idea that America’s veterans are not just employable, but indispensable to the nation’s industrial future.
These programs embody the spirit of what Congress envisioned more than a century ago when it first tied rehabilitation to meaningful employment. The idea that a veteran’s recovery should lead to renewed productivity is not new; it is a foundational principle embedded in American law since the aftermath of World War I. Long before terms like “workforce development” entered the policy lexicon, Congress recognized that helping disabled veterans rebuild their lives required more than medical treatment or compensation—it required restoring their ability to work, to earn, and to contribute. That conviction gave rise to what is now the VA’s Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program, the nation’s oldest and most enduring framework for reintegrating wounded service members into the civilian economy.
Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program
The VR&E Program (formerly Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment before the VA changed the name on February 16, 2022) is codified in federal law under 38 U.S.C. Chapters 31, 33, and 36. It is further regulated by the VA under 38 C.F.R. Part 21 (Veteran Readiness and Employment and Education Programs). Its most recent regulatory activity occurred on September 5, 2024, when VA published a Proposed Rule (RIN 2900-AS15) titled “Timely Certification and Reporting for Veterans Attending Training Programs” (89 Fed. Reg. 72351). The rule would amend 38 C.F.R. § 21.294 to require schools and training facilities participating in Chapter 31 programs to certify enrollment changes within 30 days—an effort aimed at preventing underpayments, overpayments, and delays in subsistence allowance for veterans who rely on these funds during training.
VA does not need to wait for an Act of Congress to reform or strengthen the VR&E program, but Congress has made clear that bipartisan momentum already exists to do just that. During the October hearing, both Republican and Democratic senators expressed frustration that too few veterans are accessing the services designed to help them reenter the workforce.
Witnesses representing the legacy Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), including the PVA, DAV, and VFW, urged the Committee to prioritize VR&E modernization to bridge the gap between disability compensation and employability.
Mr. Jeremy Villanueva, Associate Legislative Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America, stated in part,”
“[T]he one thing I think everybody on this panel can agree with is that every veteran who wants to work—and is inhibited by a disability—that they have every incentive and opportunity to get to work . . . VR&E should definitely be pushed more so than any other program that they have out there for veterans who want to get out back to work.”
Chairman Moran himself called for a greater focus on integrating veterans into the workplace, framing it not as a partisan talking point but as a congressional obligation. In that spirit, the Committee’s discussion pointed toward a clear and practical goal: to ensure that when veterans leave military service, they can move directly into meaningful civilian jobs that match their skills and experience—accommodating disabilities arising from their service.
Turning Policy into Practice: What Skills-Based Programs can Implement Immediately
The takeaway from the recent Senate hearing is both simple and consequential: Washington’s attention is turning back to the mechanics of how disabled veterans transition from recovery to meaningful, skilled employment. While lawmakers debate modernization of the VR&E system, there is space now for quiet preparation: refining curricula, improving certification processes, and strengthening ties with existing workforce pipelines. These small, internal adjustments can position programs to move quickly when reform soon becomes reality. Those already aligned with veterans’ employment initiatives will not need to catch up when Congress and VA begin translating discussion into action.
VA, regardless of presidential administration, has long relied on the rulemaking process to respond to emerging issues—and often to address veterans’ service organization concerns—faster than Congress can legislate. Across changing leadership, this quiet but powerful regulatory tool has modernized everything from disability ratings and adaptive housing grants to education benefits and health care eligibility. Through rulemaking, VA has repeatedly redefined who qualifies for critical programs and how those benefits are delivered. The pattern is consistent: when bipartisan attention centers on a gap in veterans’ services, VA acts first through regulation. Given the tone of the recent Senate hearing and the agency’s history, a proposed rule addressing how veterans transition from rehabilitation to employment is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.’
Beyond internal reviews, those invested in successfully guiding veterans—disabled or otherwise—into the workforce through new skills-based certifications should be reading the Federal Register and setting alerts for “VR&E,” “Veterans,” and “Veteran Readiness.” Doing so ensures visibility not only into agency actions from VA, but also from the Department of Labor and the Department of Education, both of which frequently issue companion rules and grant guidance that shape how veteran training and credentialing programs are funded and recognized nationwide.
About the Author
Matthew Feehan, J.D. is a U.S. Army National Guard veteran and former infantry officer with more than a decade of combined military, legal, and federal contracting experience. A former Department of Justice Honors Law Clerk and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Law Clerk and Operations Officer, Feehan has served across nearly every corner of the federal system—as a contractor, civil servant, and soldier—working on matters that span regulatory policy, administrative law, and complex federal procurement. His firsthand experience navigating the same statutes and rulemaking processes that govern veterans’ benefits gives his writing a uniquely practical edge.
Today, Feehan serves as a Senior Policy Advisor with the Veterans Education Project (VEP), a Board Member and Sergeant-at-Arms of Combat Veterans of America (CVA), and an independent consultant specializing in ethics, compliance, and veterans’ policy. His work explores how law and regulation collide with the lived experience of those who serve—bridging the gap between policy intent and on-the-ground impact for veterans, families, and the public institutions charged with supporting them.
