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This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Certified Help Options in Claims Expertise for Veterans Act of 2025” or the “CHOICE for Veterans Act of 2025” and sets forth the table of contents.
This section amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) duty-to-assist provision (38 U.S.C. §5103A) to require, upon receipt of an initial or supplemental claim from an unrepresented claimant, notice of the availability of accredited persons (i.e., organizations recognized under 38 U.S.C. §5902 or attorneys/agents under §5904) and no-cost services from recognized organizations, including web addresses for VA websites listing such persons and enabling reports of non-accredited assistance and associated fees. It further directs VA to maintain a quarterly-updated, publicly accessible list of accredited persons on its website and a reporting system for unauthorized assistance; requires warnings about permissible fees by accredited agents/attorneys on all VA claim-filing web portals, with links to the new websites; and requires VA, not later than 180 days after enactment, to review regulations and procedures for accrediting agents/attorneys under §5904, develop related recommendations, and report findings to the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs. (As background, the duty-to-assist provision requires VA to help claimants obtain evidence substantiating benefit claims under laws administered by VA, such as disability compensation.)
This section revises Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recognition standards for agents and attorneys who represent claimants in benefits claims (38 U.S.C. §5904(a)) by (1) requiring applications and granting conditional temporary recognition for a one-year period, plus additional 180-day periods, if qualifications under current standards cannot be verified within 180 days of application receipt; (2) prohibiting denial of recognition solely because the individual previously charged fees for initial claims or while unrecognized, or is a nonprofit employee seeking official-capacity recognition; (3) directing regulations for recognition specific to initial claims or supplemental claims after a final decision, with assessments up to $500 on fee-charging representatives deposited in a revolving fund for section administration; and (4) barring fees for such claims involving presumptive service-connected chronic disabilities shown during service or the presumptive period, or filed by active-duty claimants, and further prohibiting fees for claimant-prohibited agreement terminations, attorney-delayed supplemental claims, or repeat fees within the same organization, while requiring fee agreement filings and authorizing audits.
This section amends VA penalties for misconduct in benefits claims (38 U.S.C. 5905) by revising the section heading to "Penalties for certain acts" (from "Penalty"), designating the existing prohibition on wrongfully withholding claimant benefits as subsection (a), and adding the following: (1) subsection (b), which prohibits (except under 38 U.S.C. §§ 5904 or 1984) soliciting, contracting for, charging, or receiving any fee for preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a VA benefits claim—with penalties of a fine under 18 U.S.C. or imprisonment up to one year (excluding third-party medical exams or opinions lacking a business relationship with a recognized representative); (2) subsection (c), which for conditionally or temporarily recognized agents or attorneys under 38 U.S.C. § 5904(a)(1)(B)(ii) or (iii), requires revocation of recognition for violations, plus (after notice and hearing) a $50,000 fine and bars from recognition of one year (first violation) or 10 years (subsequent violations); and (3) subsection (d), requiring deposit of fines from subsections (b) or (c) into the fund under 38 U.S.C. § 5904(a)(7)(D). It further directs the VA General Counsel to prescribe regulations within 90 days of enactment defining "preparation, presentation, or prosecution" for new subsection (b), with amendments effective 180 days after those regulations.
This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to complete, not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, a review of the Department of Veterans Affairs process under 38 U.S.C. 5904, as amended by this Act, for recognizing agents and attorneys to prepare, present, and prosecute claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The Comptroller General must submit a report to the House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs that (1) identifies deficiencies in the administration of such process and (2) provides recommendations for legislative or administrative actions to improve it.
This section directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, with respect to recognition of agents and attorneys under 38 U.S.C. §5904 (which authorizes such recognition for preparation, presentation, and prosecution of VA benefit claims), to (1) publish on a public Department website, within 180 days of enactment and on an on-demand basis, the knowledge test required for recognition; (2) issue regulations within one year of enactment updating continuing legal education requirements for continued recognition and increasing the required amount above the current level; and (3) conduct reviews of those continuing legal education requirements, beginning two years after issuing the regulations and biennially thereafter.
This section establishes federal preemption over any state law—including statutory, common law, or otherwise, and whether adopted before or after enactment—that is inconsistent with the rights established by this Act and its amendments.