If you are waiting for Congress to do something significant for veterans this week, you can stop waiting.

The House is away from regular legislative business during the pre-election period, and the Senate is also recessed. The Senate held a brief pro forma session Friday, October 9, but its official schedule says no business was expected. Senators are scheduled to return for regular business November 9. The House is likewise scheduled to return after the November 3 election. U.S. Senate Daily Press

So there was no dramatic vote on veterans benefits.

No breakthrough on the large veterans package.

No resolution of the proposed VA refinance-fee increase.

And no reason for me to manufacture a congressional headline where one does not exist.

But that does not mean nothing happened for veterans.

Because while Congress is campaigning, the Department of Veterans Affairs is still operating.

And this week there were several developments worth knowing about.

First: The Big Veterans Package Is Still Sitting There

The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act remains unfinished.

That is the legislation containing dozens of provisions involving veterans health care, disability compensation, surviving families, caregivers and combat-disabled retirees.

The current congressional record still lists the House and Senate versions of the legislation, but there has been no new floor action during the election recess. GovInfo

So the basic situation we have been following has not changed.

There are benefits in the package that have substantial bipartisan support.

There are also disagreements over how some of those benefits should be financed.

And until lawmakers come back, there is not much opportunity for that argument to move forward.

The VA Refinance-Fee Proposal Is Frozen Too

The House-passed Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act also remains in the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

That is important to veteran homeowners because the legislation contains the provision we have been following that would increase the VA funding fee on an Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan — the IRRRL or VA streamline refinance — from 0.50% to 1.42% for veterans who are not exempt.

The House passed the bill May 21. It was received in the Senate and referred to the Veterans’ Affairs Committee June 2. The congressional calendar still shows that as its latest action. GovInfo

So once again:

The VA streamline-refinance funding fee has not increased.

For veterans considering a refinance today, the proposed increase is still something to watch — not something already in effect.

And the official VA home-loan circular list shows no new 2026 servicing circular issued since the August 11 guidance dealing with VA Partial Claims. Benefits

That is useful information too.

Sometimes the weekly update is simply knowing that the rules didn’t change.

But VA Did Make It Easier to Get Into the System This Week

On October 7, VA launched a pilot program designed to make it easier for veterans to establish a VA.gov account.

VA partnered with identity-verification company CLEAR to place assisted enrollment stations at six VA medical centers:

Atlanta, Brooklyn, Orlando, Palo Alto, San Juan and Washington, D.C.

Veterans who have trouble creating an account at home — because of technology, connectivity, mobility or identity-verification problems — can get help establishing an account at those facilities.

VA says the process can be completed in a matter of minutes. If the pilot works, the department may expand it to other locations. VA News

That sounds like a small administrative change.

It isn’t necessarily small to the veteran who cannot get into the system.

VA.gov is increasingly the front door for accessing benefits, checking claims, obtaining health-care information and managing other VA services.

A benefit that exists on paper is not particularly useful if the veteran cannot access it.

$16 Million for Adaptive Sports

VA also announced $16 million in grants to 91 community organizations providing adaptive sports programs to veterans and servicemembers with disabilities.

Those programs include activities such as cycling, skiing, fishing, archery and wheelchair sports, with a focus on rehabilitation, physical health, independence and social connection. VA News

This is not proposed spending.

The grants have been awarded.

That distinction matters in The Give and Take.

Washington announces a lot of things.

I am much more interested in telling veterans when the money has actually been committed and the program is actually moving.

A Real VA Mortgage Rate Cut — But for a Specific Group of Veterans

There was also a genuine VA home-loan development this week.

As of October 1, VA lowered the interest rate on its Native American Direct Loan program, commonly called NADL, from 2.50% to 2.47%.

Unlike the normal VA loan, where a private lender makes the mortgage and VA guarantees part of it, the Native American Direct Loan is made directly by VA.

It is available to qualifying Native American veterans and servicemembers — including eligible Native Hawaiians, Alaska Natives and certain Pacific Islanders — for buying, building, improving or refinancing a home on qualifying federal trust land.

The program can offer:

• No required down payment.
• No monthly mortgage insurance.
• Limited closing costs.
• A fixed interest rate that, for loans closing on or after October 1, is now 2.47%. VA News

Not every veteran qualifies for NADL, and the property and tribal eligibility requirements are specific.

But for the veterans who do qualify, 2.47% is an extraordinary mortgage rate in today’s environment.

That is a real change.

Not a proposal.

Not something awaiting committee action.

It is available now to eligible borrowers.

VA Also Released Its Updated Benefits Guide

VA has also published its 2026 Federal Benefits Guide for Veterans, Dependents, Survivors and Caregivers.

The guide covers compensation, pensions, education, life insurance, employment assistance, mental-health resources, VA home loans and housing assistance, along with contact information for the different programs. VA News

This may sound mundane, but one of the continuing problems with veterans benefits is not always that a benefit does not exist.

Sometimes veterans simply do not know it exists.

Or they know the name of the benefit but do not know whether they qualify.

That is one of the reasons I continue encouraging veterans to ask questions.

You earned these benefits.

There is nothing wrong with finding out what they are.

This Week Is Really About the Difference Between Legislation and Administration

Congress writes laws.

But agencies have to administer them.

And those are two very different things.

This week Congress did essentially nothing legislatively because members are away during the election recess.

Meanwhile, VA:

• Launched a new way for veterans to establish VA.gov access.
• Distributed $16 million for adaptive sports programs.
• Lowered the Native American Direct Loan mortgage rate.
• Continued providing veterans with updated information about the benefits currently available to them. VA News

None of that replaces congressional action on the larger issues.

But neither should it be ignored simply because Congress is not in Washington.

What We Are Still Waiting For

When lawmakers return after the election, our list is already waiting for them.

We will be watching:

The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act.

What happens to the disputed disability-compensation provisions?

What happens to the Major Richard Star Act provisions for combat-disabled retirees?

What happens to the proposed IRRRL funding-fee increase?

And do any of the broader VA home-loan modernization proposals finally move?

Those questions did not disappear because there is an election.

They were simply postponed.

The Bottom Line

There is an odd temptation in Washington reporting to assume that if Congress is not voting, nothing is happening.

That is not true.

This week is a good example.

Congress is effectively in pause mode until after the election.

The VA is not.

Some veterans gained easier access to VA.gov.

Disabled veterans will benefit from $16 million going into adaptive-sports programs.

And eligible Native American veterans now have access to a VA direct mortgage rate of 2.47% on qualifying loans.

Meanwhile, the major congressional questions involving veterans benefits and VA home-loan costs remain exactly where we left them.

So this week’s Give and Take is less about what Washington gave or took away.

It is about something just as important:

Knowing what actually changed — and knowing what didn’t.

Because veterans deserve better than rumors, campaign talking points and headlines.

They deserve to know what benefits are available today, what Washington is merely proposing and what still has to happen before anything really changes.

---

About the Author

Clay Edmonds is the Corporate Educator and Complete Mortgage Advisor at Complete Mortgage LLC in Hollywood, Florida, and the creator of MortgageSimplified.net. With more than four decades of experience in real estate finance, Clay focuses on simplifying the mortgage process and helping veterans, borrowers and real estate professionals make smarter financing decisions.

Solutions@MortgageSimplified.net
561-363-8174
NMLS #1969637 | Complete Mortgage LLC NMLS #2085547