S. 2683, Veterans Scam And Fraud Evasion Act of 2026

S. 2683 would establish a Veterans Scam and Fraud Evasion Officer within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The authority for that position would expire at the end of fiscal year 2030. The officer would promote resources for preventing fraud and scams, provide training to department employees, and coordinate with similar efforts of other federal agencies. Using information from VA, CBO estimates the department would require four full-time equivalent employees (the new officer and three support staff) to satisfy the bill’s requirements.

For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 2683 would be enacted in fiscal year 2026 and that staff would be hired in 2027. On the basis of information from the Office of Personnel Management about federal employee salaries and benefits, CBO estimates that implementing S. 2683 would cost $1 million per year and total $4 million over the 2026-2031 period. Such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriations.

On July 31, 2025, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 1663, the Veterans Scam And Fraud Evasion Act of 2025, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on July 23, 2025. Both bills would establish the Veterans Scam and Fraud Evasion Officer, but the requirement under H.R. 1663 would not expire. Differences in CBO’s estimates of the costs of implementing the requirement reflect the effect of that expiration date. In addition, H.R. 1663 would reduce the amount of VA pensions the department pays to certain veterans and survivors who reside in nursing homes, which would reduce direct spending by $8 million. S. 2683 would not affect VA pensions.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is David Rafferty. The estimate was reviewed by Christina Hawley Anthony, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.