Senate Passes Burn-Pit Funding for Veterans After Surprise Setback

Many Republicans raised objections to the bill after Democrats unveiled climate-and-tax legislation

The Senate voted 86-11 to pass a bipartisan bill to enact the largest expansion of veteran healthcare benefits in decades, a week after it fell victim to a technical snafu and a political spat over a separate spending bill.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) earlier Tuesday reached an agreement with Republicans to hold a fresh vote on the PACT Act. Senate Republicans had been looking for a path forward after they blocked it last week, sparking blowback from veterans groups, who camped on the steps of the Capitol and vowed to stay until the Senate passed the bill.

“They made such a huge mistake with veterans,” said Mr. Schumer of Republicans. “I’m glad they recouped. All’s well that ends well.”

Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) opposed the bill at the time, complaining about the way it would reclassify $400 billion in existing Veterans Affairs funding from discretionary to mandatory spending, essentially requiring the federal government to spend money on certain kinds of veterans benefits and sheltering the funds from annual budget fights. Mr. Toomey said that would create a hole in the discretionary budget that could theoretically be filled by spending unrelated to veterans in a future spending bill.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), a veteran who had switched her vote from yes to no last week, said Monday that it wasn’t fair that Republicans were getting the blame. She acknowledged that the budgetary structure of the bill didn’t change from when she first voted for the bill in June, but she said Republicans had an opportunity now to fix it.

“Here we have an opportunity to make it right,” she said. “We have to show the American people we’re trying to do it the right way.”

More From The Wall Street Journal (subscription required):