A GOP lawmaker went on a profane Thursday tirade insisting that disability benefits for veterans needed to be cut because they were "encouraging victimhood."
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a retired Navy SEAL, unloaded on the Veterans of Foreign Wars in a post on X after House Republicans were forced to pull a veterans' benefits bill from the floor Thursday.
The VFW had urged Congress to vote against the bill, helping to sink it.
Republicans pulled the Take Care of America's Veterans Act after narrowly defeating a Democratic effort to force major revisions to the proposal, 211-210, according to Politico.
"Congrats to the self-serving VFW!" Crenshaw wrote on X, "They convinced a small handful of Republicans to side with Democrats to f— over combat wounded veterans and surviving spouses."
In his post, Crenshaw argued that conditions like sleep apnea and tinnitus should not qualify for disability benefits at all.
"For context, losing a limb in battle was rated at 30% when I was leaving service," he added.
The bill's centerpiece was the Major Richard Star Act, which would have boosted retirement pay for about 50,000 combat-injured veterans, Politico reported.
To pay for it, the bill would have cut disability ratings for tinnitus and sleep apnea — changes expected to save about $57 billion over a decade and affect up to 1.5 million veterans, according to the VFW.
"A grateful nation pays its debts to veterans; it does not send them the invoice," VFW National Commander Carol Whitmore said in a statement.
Veterans advocacy group VoteVets wrote on X on Tuesday that Republicans "say they love veterans, but when it comes to protecting the benefits earned through our service…they betray us."
In Crenshaw's Thursday post, he also took aim at veterans' service organizations broadly.
"Too many VSOs — veterans service organizations — are relics, encouraging victim hood and stupid policy that hurts veterans and the taxpayer," he added.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the bill would be delayed "several weeks" while leadership considered next steps, Politico reported.
