PHS officers gain military-grade leave benefits under federal alignment bill
H.R. 2846 — To amend title II of the Public Health Service Act to include as an additional right or privilege of commissioned officers of the Public Health Service (and their beneficiaries) certain leave provided under title 10, United States Code to commissioned officers of the Army (or their beneficiaries). · Filed by Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 10, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill extends military leave benefits to commissioned officers of the Public Health Service (PHS) and their beneficiaries by incorporating Chapter 40 of Title 10 (the military leave statute) into PHS law. It repeals a prior PHS leave provision (Section 219) to avoid duplication. The result: PHS officers gain the same leave entitlements as Army officers.
Why we flagged it
The bill harmonizes leave entitlements across two federal uniformed services (PHS and Army) by incorporating existing military leave law into PHS statute. It is a technical personnel-policy amendment, not a substantive new benefit creation.
What the text implies
- Incorporation of Chapter 40 by reference means PHS officers automatically inherit any future amendments to military leave law without requiring separate PHS legislation, creating a long-term statutory linkage.
- Repeal of Section 219 eliminates a prior PHS-specific leave framework; the bill assumes Chapter 40 is a complete substitute, but any gaps or differences between the two regimes could create unintended coverage holes.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
PHS officers (who staff public health agencies, disaster response, and federal health programs) gain leave parity with military counterparts, improving retention and morale in a critical public-health workforce. No cost to ordinary citizens; the benefit is internal to federal personnel policy.
Named in the bill
Public Health Service (PHS), U.S. Army, Public Health Service Act (Title II), Title 10 United States Code (Chapter 40), House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
- Apr 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 10, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
- Sep 10, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Sep 17, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by the Yeas and Nays: 46 - 0”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Guthrie moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (401 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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