Report: Omnibus will reverse cuts to disabled military retiree pensions

The 2014 spending bill, which will likely be passed this week, will reverse reductions to medically retired veterans’ pensions that were slated to begin in December 2015, according to a senior congressional aide.

{mosads}Reductions to working-age military retirees’ pensions came last month, as lawmakers agreed to reduce a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) by 1 percent below inflation, beginning in 2015, as part of the budget deal.

Senators said last week that the fix for medically retired veterans was likely to be included in the omnibus, which could be released as early as Monday.

At the time, lawmakers failed to exclude medically retired veterans from the cuts, and promised to reverse what they called a “technical error.”

It appears less likely that reductions to the rest of working-age veterans’ pensions will be included in the spending bill, but Defense officials have promised they will be addressed later in the year, in hearings and in recommendations by a Pentagon-appointed commission.

One-in-3 lawmakers have supported repealing the $6 billion cut to military retiree benefits that was part of the budget deal, but there’s been no indication yet any of the bills that would do so will get votes in the House or Senate.