This chapter is about care for people who served. It wants it easier for them to see a doctor outside the VA. It wants claims for injury pay decided faster. It also wants a fresh look at how those payments are set.
The document says “should”Who acts: CongressHow: legislationp. 645 in the PDF
What the document says
“the next Administration should rapidly and explicitly codify VA MISSION Act access standards in legislation”
The access standards determine when a veteran may use a private provider rather than a VA facility, based on how far away and how long a wait the VA offers. The chapter conditions this on the makeup of Congress being favorable in 2025, and says the purpose is to prevent the department avoiding or watering down the requirements in future.
What the document actually says
“the next Administration should rapidly and explicitly codify VA MISSION Act access standards in legislation”
That sentence, in plain words
Put the rules for using outside doctors into law. Do it quickly.
What this is about
A veteran can sometimes see a doctor outside the VA. Rules set when that is allowed. The book says those rules should be written into law.
Read against the documents indexed here on August 26, 2026, and nothing was found that answers this. Nothing indexed comes close. No indexed law writes the MISSION Act access standards, the drive time and wait time thresholds that decide when a veteran may use a private provider, into statute. The candidate rule-2025-16978 matched on the word codification and concerns the law enforcement authorities of immigration officers. That is a record of a search, not a finding that nothing has happened: an act this site does not hold, or one that answers the proposal in words unlike its own, would not be caught by it.
The document says “should”Who acts: VAHow: internal managementp. 645 in the PDF
What the document says
“To strengthen Community Care, the next Administration should create new”
Community Care is the program under which the department pays for a veteran to be treated by a provider outside its own facilities. The chapter treats strengthening it as a central aim, alongside codifying the access standards that govern eligibility.
What the document actually says
“To strengthen Community Care, the next Administration should create new”
That sentence, in plain words
Make it easier for veterans to get care outside the VA.
What this is about
The VA runs its own hospitals. It can also pay for care elsewhere. The book wants more of that outside care.
Executive Order 14296 of May 9, 2025 directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to report a plan to reduce wait times for Veterans Health Administration appointments and to develop a strategy to improve health care delivery that prioritizes reducing access times, including options for treating veterans at selected military treatment facilities with reimbursement. It expands where a veteran may be seen outside a VA hospital and attacks the wait times that drive eligibility. The fit breaks down because Community Care means the VA paying a provider in the community, and the order routes care to Defense Department facilities instead. It does not change Community Care eligibility, its access standards, its provider network or how it pays, and it creates none of the new arrangements the chapter asks for.
In plain English
The order aims to cut how long veterans wait for care. It lets some be seen at military clinics. But the program the chapter named pays doctors in the local community. The order does not change who may use it or how it pays.
The document says “should”Who acts: VA, OMBHow: regulationp. 650 in the PDF
What the document says
“The next Administration should explore how VASRD reviews could be accelerated with clearance from OMB to target significant cost savings from revising disability rating awards”
The Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities determines what percentage disability, and therefore what payment, a condition attracts. The chapter says the revision would target savings from future claimants while preserving awards fully or partially for existing claimants.
What the document actually says
“The next Administration should explore how VASRD reviews could be accelerated with clearance from OMB to target significant cost savings from revising disability rating awards”
That sentence, in plain words
Speed up the review of how disabilities are rated. Aim to save money on future claims.
What this is about
A schedule sets how much each injury pays. The book wants it reviewed faster. It says future claims could pay less. People already receiving it would be protected.
Read against the documents indexed here on August 26, 2026, and nothing was found that answers this. Nothing indexed comes close. No indexed document revises the Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities, speeds up its review cycle, or seeks budget office clearance to target savings from future rating awards. The nearest candidate concerns how service-connected disability compensation counts toward income limits in housing programs, which is a different question. That is a record of a search, not a finding that nothing has happened: an act this site does not hold, or one that answers the proposal in words unlike its own, would not be caught by it.
The document says “must”Who acts: VAHow: internal managementp. 649 in the PDF
What the document says
“The VA must improve timeliness of claim adjudication and benefits delivery”
The chapter says the disability claims process needs more management attention on streamlining procedures, and that veterans want timely responses, empathetic service and understandable explanations, delivered in weeks rather than months.
What the document actually says
“The VA must improve timeliness of claim adjudication and benefits delivery”
That sentence, in plain words
The VA must decide claims faster. It must pay benefits faster too.
What this is about
A veteran files a claim for injury payments. It can take months to decide. The book says it should take weeks.
Read against the documents indexed here on August 26, 2026, and nothing was found that answers this. Nothing indexed comes close. No indexed document sets a target, a procedure or a management measure for how quickly the Veterans Affairs Department decides disability claims and delivers benefits. The candidates reach VA environmental review and veterans land and housing questions, none of which touch claim adjudication. That is a record of a search, not a finding that nothing has happened: an act this site does not hold, or one that answers the proposal in words unlike its own, would not be caught by it.
The document says “should”Who acts: CongressHow: legislationp. 647 in the PDF
What the document says
“authority should be given to reappoint this individual for a second five-year term”
The chapter frames this as allowing continuity and protecting the post from political transition. The Under Secretary for Health runs the department's hospital system.
What the document actually says
“authority should be given to reappoint this individual for a second five-year term”
That sentence, in plain words
Let this person be reappointed. A second five-year term should be allowed.
What this is about
One official runs all the VA hospitals. The job lasts five years. The book says the person should be able to serve a second term.
Read against the documents indexed here on August 26, 2026, and nothing was found that answers this. Nothing indexed comes close. No indexed law or order allows the Under Secretary for Health to be reappointed to a second five-year term or changes the terms of that post. The candidates share only common words with the proposal. That is a record of a search, not a finding that nothing has happened: an act this site does not hold, or one that answers the proposal in words unlike its own, would not be caught by it.
The document says “should”Who acts: OPM, White HouseHow: internal managementp. 652 in the PDF
What the document says
“Personnel Management should be engaged on ways to provide authorities for a higher number of non-career PA positions.”
The chapter says the White House personnel office can be inclined to discount the department's importance, but that given the political attention it generates it should understand the importance of finding talented political appointees to serve there.
What the document actually says
“Personnel Management should be engaged on ways to provide authorities for a higher number of non-career PA positions.”
That sentence, in plain words
Work with the personnel agency. Get more posts that political staff can fill.
What this is about
Most VA jobs are career jobs. A few are filled by the president's own picks. The book wants more of those.
Executive Order 14317 of July 17, 2025 creates Schedule G in the excepted service for noncareer positions of a policy-making or policy-advocating character that normally change at a presidential transition, a category the order says did not previously exist, and directs the Office of Personnel Management to write the implementing regulations. Its implementation section addresses the Secretary of Veterans Affairs directly on how to make those appointments. That is the personnel agency providing a new authority to appoint noncareer political staff, which is what the chapter asks for. The fit breaks down because Schedule G is an excepted service schedule, not the noncareer Presidential Appointment positions the chapter names, it is government-wide rather than an authority granted to the department, and it sets no number, so nothing indexed raises the count of political appointees at Veterans Affairs.
In plain English
An order of July 17, 2025 sets up Schedule G. It covers policy jobs that change when a new President comes in. That is a new way to hire political staff, as the chapter asked. But Schedule G is not the job type the chapter names, it covers all agencies, and it sets no number.
Brooks D. Tucker, “Department of Veterans Affairs,” in Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, edited by Paul Dans and Steven Groves (The Heritage Foundation, 2023), pp. 641-656. https://static.heritage.org/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf
This page
“Department of Veterans Affairs,” Project 2025, chapter 20. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/project-2025/chapter-20/ (retrieved October 7, 2026).
Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.
What This Page Covers, and What It Leaves Out
Recommendations on community care, the MISSION Act access standards, aging infrastructure, the disability claims process, the disability rating schedule, information technology and staffing.
The chapter's account of the department's history and its detailed management observations about individual offices.
Several proposals here are conditional on the makeup of Congress, which the chapter says plainly. Each entry shows the document's own wording, including where it is conditional.
