H.R. 3641 — Wounded Warrior Bill of Rights Act of 2025

This section reserves to the Secretaries of the military departments authority over and responsibility for members of the Armed Forces under their jurisdiction throughout the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES)—notwithstanding Defense Health Agency authorities—by amending 10 U.S.C. 1073c(i) (redesignated as new subsection (h)). Such responsibilities include administering morale and welfare, determining fitness for duty, and exercising complete operational and administrative control at every stage from medical evaluation board to physical evaluation board, including authority for the member's military commander to pause the process for a reasonable time or withdraw the member if applicable policies, procedures, regulations, or guidance are not followed. (As background, IDES is the joint Defense Health Agency and military department process for evaluating service members' fitness for duty due to injury or illness and processing disability separations or retirements.) The section declares related congressional policy on chain-of-command accountability for wounded warriors' fitness determinations and requires the Secretary of Defense, not later than 90 days after enactment, to update IDES policies and procedures to ensure appeals include (if demanded) a full and fair hearing before the Secretary concerned, separate from and in addition to any other appeals.