House Rules Committee Debates Veterans' Rights, College Sports, Women's Museum

Why it Matters

Four bills covering veterans' gun rights, disability benefits, college athlete compensation, and a long-stalled Smithsonian museum are heading to the House floor, but first they must clear the House Rules Committee, which meets Tuesday, May 19 at 4:00 p.m. in H-313 Capitol.

The lineup spans some of the most politically charged terrain of the 119th Congress: Second Amendment protections for veterans, the future shape of college sports, and a women's history museum caught in the crossfire of the gender identity debate.

Veterans and the Second Amendment

The most straightforward bill on the docket is H.R. 1041, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, which would prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from reporting veterans to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System solely because they have been assigned a fiduciary to manage their benefits. Under the prior policy, that administrative designation by having someone else manage your VA benefits was enough to block a veteran from purchasing a firearm, without any court finding of dangerousness.

The VA moved administratively in February 2026, announcing it would immediately stop the practice. The agency called the prior policy a "decades-old wrong." But H.R. 1041 would codify that prohibition into statute, preventing any future administration from reinstating the practice. Sponsored by Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), the bill cleared the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and is now before the Rules Committee for floor consideration.

The H. Rept. 119-143 accompanying the bill reflects broad support among Veterans' Affairs Committee members, with statements from Chairman Bost, Subcommittee Chairman Morgan Luttrell, and Rep. Eli Crane.

Expanding Benefits for Severely Disabled Veterans

Also on the veterans legislation hearing docket is H.R. 6047, the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2026, sponsored by Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI). The bill would add a supplemental monthly allowance of $833.33 for veterans receiving aid and attendance benefits due to disability; require dependency and indemnity compensation to increase automatically whenever Social Security benefits increase (plus an additional 1 percent per increase, capped at five increases); and modify VA housing loan fees for veterans with disabilities rated at 70 percent or lower.

The bill was ordered reported by the House Veterans' Affairs Committee on February 12 on a 13–10 vote, signaling a partisan divide over the bill's scope or cost. The Congressional Budget Office has scored the bill, and the accompanying committee report is part of the Rules Committee record. The bill arrives as broader debates over federal spending and VA funding have intensified, with advocacy organizations including the Paralyzed Veterans of America backing the measure.

College Sports' Federal Reckoning

The most legislatively complex bill before the Rules Committee is H.R. 4312, the SCORE Act, which would establish a federal framework for college athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation. Sponsored by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), the bill was reported by two separate committees, namely the Committee on Education and Workforce and the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Rules Committee issued a reconciling print on May 11 to harmonize the two versions.

The bill's core provisions would prohibit institutions from restricting student athletes' NIL agreements, and require schools generating $20 million or more in annual athletics revenue to provide mental health services, financial literacy resources, NIL legal advice, and medical care extending three or more years post-graduation. It would also establish a compensation pool floor of at least 22 percent of average college sports revenue, cap agent fees at 5 percent, and preempt conflicting state laws, effectively ending the current patchwork of state NIL regimes.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has been lobbying on H.R. 4312 directly, spending $310,000 in the first quarter of 2026 alone on issues including the SCORE Act, gender equity, student-athlete employment, and Title IX. The NCAA's filings describe engagement on "name, image, and likeness, stadium safety, athletic scholarships, health and safety, gender equity, academic success, sports betting, the collegiate athletic model, and the governance process of college sports."

The Rules Committee's comparative prints showing the differences between each committee's version and the final Rules Committee text reflect how much negotiation has already gone into the bill before it reaches the floor.

A Museum and a Political Fight Over Gender

The most politically volatile item on the Rules Committee's May 2026 agenda may be H.R. 1329, the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum Act, sponsored by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY). The bill would authorize the museum's placement on the South Monument site of the National Mall — a goal that has had bipartisan support for years.

But the bill has become a flashpoint over a Republican effort to amend it to restrict the museum's content to feature only "biological women." The Democratic Women's Caucus condemned what it described as a "Republican attack on Women's History Museum," and House Democrats sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson urging him not to bring the amended version to the floor. The version reported by the Committee on House Administration on April 23 includes language requiring the museum's exhibits to reflect "diverse political viewpoints and authentic experiences" of women, and mandates biennial compliance reports to Congress.

Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern (D-MA), who is a cosponsor of the bill, will be among those weighing in when the committee convenes Tuesday. The Rules Committee hearing will determine not just whether the bill advances, but also under what terms, and whether the gender-definition dispute becomes the defining feature of the museum.

Virginia Foxx (R-NC) chairs the Rules Committee, with Morgan Griffith (R-VA) serving as vice chair.

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