Bennet, Blumenthal, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Crack Down on Claims Sharks Scamming Veterans

Jun 10, 2026 | Press Releases

Denver - Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, and 11 colleagues to introduce legislation holding claims sharks and other predatory actors accountable for exploiting veterans' and survivors' earned benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). U.S. Representative Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, leads the House counterpart legislation.

This bill - the Stopping Abuse, Fraud, and Exploitation by Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (SAFEGUARD) Veterans Act - would ensure that only accredited individuals can help veterans access their VA benefit claims. It would also reinstate criminal penalties for unaccredited agents who charge veterans extortionate fees for assistance with VA disability claims, which the VA and accredited nonprofits provide for free. While federal law prohibits this predation, malign actors have used loopholes to avoid prosecution and federal agencies are limited in their ability to enforce the law without criminal penalties.

"We have an obligation to support the service members who risked their lives to protect our country, particularly by protecting them against exploitation," said Bennet. "This legislation is an important step toward ensuring that all veterans can utilize the care and resources they have earned."

"Veterans need protection against claims sharks and other predatory scammers who are stealing millions in hard-earned benefits," said Blumenthal. "Our legislation will close loopholes and impose strict criminal penalties - deterring as well as punishing bad actors. There should be zero tolerance for exploitive tactics robbing veterans of funds they well deserve and need to live. I hope this measure will have bipartisan backing."

"Veterans seeking to access their benefits should not face another battle to do so. Unaccredited, for-profit companies are scamming veterans of their earned benefits under the guise of helping them and they must be stopped," said Pappas. "This legislation is about transparency for veterans so they know the resources and help available to them when they apply for benefits, and accountability for for-profit claim sharks that are breaking the law and exploiting legal loopholes to defraud them. I'm glad to be working with Senator Blumenthal, veterans, veterans' service organizations, and colleagues on both sides of the aisle on this issue. I won't stop fighting to reinstate criminal penalties on these illegal business practices and safeguard the benefits veterans have earned."

Among its many provisions, the SAFEGUARD Veterans Act would:

• Reestablish criminal penalties for unaccredited representatives scamming veterans;
• Prohibit VA accreditation of any person found guilty of unauthorized solicitation, charging, or receiving compensation for assisting with VA benefit claims;
• Close loopholes that unaccredited actors exploit to skirt federal prohibitions on unaccredited agents assisting veterans with VA benefit claims;
• Prohibit the use of robocall technology to obtain VA claims information - targeting claim sharks who spam VA call centers to gain unauthorized access to veterans' claims information;
• Require the VA to establish a system to track accredited agents and to which veterans can report scammers; and
• Increase warnings to veterans about claim sharks and other predatory practices of unaccredited agents.

The lawmakers' legislation builds on bipartisan efforts to hold unaccredited entities accountable and prevent loan sharks from charging veterans millions of dollars.

The National Association of County Veterans Service Officers (NACVSO), Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and The American Legion support this legislation.

Bennet has worked tirelessly with Colorado's military community to ensure veterans' access to the benefits and healthcare they earned for themselves and their families. Bennet helped pass the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, bipartisan legislation to expand VA health care eligibility to over 3.5 million toxic-exposed veterans. Additionally, in April 2026, Bennet celebrated the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee's passage of legislation to expand research on birth defects among descendants of toxic-exposed veterans. Bennet is also a co-sponsor of the Major Richard Star Act to provide combat-injured veteran retirees their full benefits and continues to fight for its passage.

In addition to Bennet and Blumenthal, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Jacky Rosen (D-N.M.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) co-sponsored the bill.

The text of the bill is available HERE.

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