Veterans say that the Department of Veterans Affairs has “invented new reasons to deny” former service members access to education benefits that many veterans qualify for, according to a new lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed by veterans, advocacy groups, and the State of Virginia, alleges that the VA has blocked eligible veterans from using two GI Bills to pay for undergraduate and graduate degrees. While the Supreme Court cleared the way for some veterans to use both the Montgomery GI Bill and Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, the lawsuit says, the VA has taken to requiring a formal “break in service” at some point in a career for a veteran to be eligible for both.
A 2024 Supreme Court case brought by Army veteran James Rudisill, veterans say, made clear that no break is required.
“The VA imposed rules that, among other things, create a break-in-service requirement for veterans to obtain benefits under both GI Bills,” the lawsuit said. “That is, the VA’s position is that a veteran needs a distinct ‘period of service’ — separated by a break — to establish eligibility under each benefit program. This contrived requirement has no basis in the U.S. Code, [the Supreme Court ruling for] Rudisill, or common sense.’”
A VA spokesperson told Task & Purpose that the agency “can’t comment on pending litigation.”
VA denied benefits for over 1 million veterans
The new lawsuit also alleges that while Rudisill’s case was being litigated, the VA continued barring veterans and family members from using both GI Bills. According to the VA’s own data included in the lawsuit, more than 1,039,000 veterans’ claims may have been denied.
The Montgomery GI Bill covers military service between 1985 and 2030 and provides veterans up to $2,518 per month in direct payments. The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, colloquially referred to as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, covers service for those who joined after Sept. 11, 2001, and can be applied for the full cost of attending a university, and includes monthly rent.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on March 5 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Virginia’s Attorney General, as well as several veterans and their families.
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With the lawsuit, veterans are hoping that the court strikes down the VA’s rule, which they say “illogically denies full benefits to many of the Nation’s longest-serving veterans simply because they chose to serve continuously.”
In the lawsuit, veterans groups allege that the VA’s rule was developed as “an unduly cramped” reading of the 2024 Supreme Court Rudisill decision.
Rudisill enlisted in 2000 and served in the Army for a total of eight years, broken up over three separate active duty terms with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. His service both before and after the 9/11 attacks earned him benefits from both GI Bills. Rudisill used his Montgomery benefits for his undergraduate degree, and he planned to use Post-9/11 benefits for a graduate degree. But Rudisill found he was only eligible for the remaining part of his unused Montgomery benefits, due to a provision in the post-9/11 policy.
The case made its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in a 7-2 decision in April 2024 that veterans like Rudisill are entitled to both programs they separately accrued under the two GI bills.
VFW General Counsel John Muckelbauer said in a release that the Supreme Court case was clear.
“Veterans who earned eligibility under both programs can receive up to 48 months of education benefits. VA’s regulations add conditions that do not exist in the statute and undermine the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Muckelbauer said. “Our brief asks the court to ensure the law is implemented correctly so veterans receive the full benefits they earned.”
According to the lawsuit, if a veteran is able to use the “more generous” Post-9/11 GI Bill, they can receive more than $30,000 per year in tuition benefits alone, over $3,000 a month for housing allowance, a $1,000 book stipend, and other benefits.
The VA’s denial of these benefits, according to the lawsuit, “causes real financial harm,” and may force veterans to find other ways to pay for education — like liquidating their retirement accounts or taking out loans with accrued interest. Some veterans may end up delaying or forgoing their education after service entirely.
“The loss in earning power from delaying or halting their pursuit of higher education cannot easily be undone,” veterans wrote in their legal brief. “Veterans who use education benefits under both GI Bills are typically older than the average college or graduate student because they served five or more years.”
The veterans argue in the lawsuit that the VA has still not provided veterans and families with a reimbursement mechanism or a way to extend the date for when benefits must be used.
“This means that children may age out of eligibility before the VA’s wrongful interpretation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill is corrected,” they wrote in the suit. “Thus, because of the VA’s own knowing error, dependent children may receive none of the benefits they are owed.”
