Ron Johnson

A disabled veteran and former aide is criticizing Sen. Ron Johnson for blocking a bipartisan veterans benefits bill.

The Major Richard Star Act would allow more than 50,000 combat-injured veterans to receive full retirement and disability benefits.

Sen. Johnson cited the bill's cost and concerns over "double-dipping" as reasons for his objection.

Veterans organizations, like the VFW, argue the two payments are for separate sacrifices and the bill is their top legislative priority.

A disabled veteran and former aide to Sen. Ron Johnson is slamming the senator for blocking a veterans benefits bill with bipartisan support.

In opinion pieces published simultaneously in the Journal Sentinel and the Wisconsin State Journal on June 9, former GOP congressional candidate Jason Church criticized his one-time boss for his opposition to the bipartisan Major Richard Star Act. The measure would eliminate a rule that deducts the V.A. disability payments of more than 50,000 veterans injured in combat from the retirement benefits they are eligible to receive.

"The real cost of war was never the bullets. It is the long bill we keep refusing to pay — the careers PTSD quietly ends, the homes lost when the paychecks stop, the marriages that do not survive the homecoming," Church wrote.

The bill, which supporters say has 79 cosponsors in the Senate and hundreds in the House, has yet to be brought to a floor vote in either chamber. According to Church, it has the support of all major veterans organizations, including the VFW and the American Legion.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has repeatedly moved to advance the bill to the floor over the objections of Republican leadership by unanimous consent. The procedural move can be defeated by a single objection.

On March 3, that objection came from the senior senator from Wisconsin.

In remarks at the time, Johnson cited the estimated cost of the bill.

"We can't just come down here and talk about how much we love vets and how we want to support them. We also have to look at the reality of the situation, the dollars and cents," Johnson said.

Johnson said he might consider supporting the bill, but it had to first go through the committee process. He was concerned about the possibility that veterans might be "double-dipping" in retirement and disability benefits.

"Let's go through the process to see whether these policies make sense, whether there truly is double-dipping," Johnson said on the floor.

Church says the Pentagon's Military Retirement Fund already contains $1.7 trillion designated for retirement benefits like this. Those funds should allow the Department of Defense to provide full retirement benefits to combat veterans without deducting their V.A. disability payments, he wrote.

A Congressional Budget Office report found the bill would cost more than $78 billion over the next 10 years. According to Church, about $13 billion of that, or around $1.2 billion each year, would be direct spending on the benefit. The rest of the money would go for the continued support of the $1.7 trillion Military Retirement Fund, Church said.

The war in Iran, which Sen. Johnson supports, costs about $2 billion every day, according to Harvard researcher Linda Bilmes.

"We are, right now, creating the next generation of veterans this bill is meant to protect — while telling the last one we cannot afford them," Church wrote.

Church, who lost both legs to an I.E.D. in Afghanistan, was defeated by Tom Tiffany in the Republican primary for the 7th congressional district in December 2019, after now Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy resigned his seat. Tiffany is now the presumptive Republican nominee for governor in 2026.

Before his congressional run, Church was an aide in Johnson's office.

Johnson respected his service, Church said, but in his opinion piece, he also recounted a comment from the senator that stands out in his memory.

"When I worked for him, he once told me, in earnest, that he did not think a 100-percent disability rating made sense — because if someone were truly 100 percent disabled, he would be dead. I am 100-percent rated. I am not dead," Church wrote. "I am paying attention. So is every wounded veteran in Wisconsin."

VFW counts Star Act as its top legislative priority

Jason Johns, a former Wisconsin VFW commander and the current chair of the VFW's National Legislative Committee, said the Star Act is the VFW's "number one legislative priority."

The "double-dipping" argument is "absolutely ridiculous," Johns said. "It's not double-dipping. It's double sacrifice."

The retirement benefits are intended to make up for the loss of income after a medical discharge, Johns said. The V.A disability, on the other hand, is compensation for the physical and mental injuries sustained in combat.

"What we heard, when we heard 'we can't afford it,' is 'we can afford the war, but not the war-fighter,'" Johns said.

So far, Republican leadership in both chambers has prevented the bill from advancing out of committee, Johns said.

In an interview with WLUK Fox 11 in March, Johnson insisted that he supports veterans, but that this bill required more due diligence.

Spending on benefits, Johnson said, has nearly doubled since 2019.

"That needs to be scrutinized," Johnson said. "I have nothing but love and support for the finest among us, but we also have to protect our children's future as well."

Church doesn't think these benefits should be up for debate.

"We paid for the bullets up front. It is time to pay for the people who carried them," Church wrote, asking Wisconsinites to call their congressmen and tell them to support the bill.

On June 9, the bill failed to advance to a vote once more. This time it was Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ken., who made the decisive objection.

In a statement provided by his office, Johnson again emphasized the importance of the committee process.

"It is my understanding that the [Department of Defense] and Congress are making progress on legislation through the regular committee process. A third attempt to bypass regular order on a less expensive $11-$17 billion program was blocked by Senator Paul because Senator Blumenthal would not agree to offset the spending by reducing welfare for refugees," the statement says. "Hopefully, Senator Blumenthal will refocus his efforts to pass this through regular order instead of attempting to score political points on an issue that has bipartisan support."

Asked in an interview what his message for congressional Republicans would be, Church said the choice was obvious.

"Do what is right for those who have served and sacrificed for this nation. Don't penalize those who have sacrificed in blood, and end a bureaucratic penalty for something that has moral clarity," Church said.

Church declined to comment on his future electoral ambitions.

"At this point, my priority is advocating for the veterans of this nation," Church said.