Congress expands military pension fund to cover NOAA, PHS officers—cost unclear.

What it does

This bill expands the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund to cover retired members of the NOAA Commissioned Corps and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, allowing their pensions to be paid from the same federal fund that pays military retirees. It requires the Board of Actuaries to calculate the unfunded liability for past service by NOAA and PHS officers and establish a payment schedule for the departments to cover those costs.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to extend military retirement fund eligibility to two additional federal uniformed corps (NOAA and PHS), creating a new fiscal obligation for the federal government to pay retroactive pension liabilities.

What the text implies

• The bill creates an unfunded liability that must be calculated and amortized by January 1, 2027, but does not specify the total cost or the amortization period, leaving the fiscal impact opaque to Congress and the public.
• By consolidating NOAA and PHS officer pensions into the Defense Military Retirement Fund, the bill obscures the true cost of those programs within the defense budget, potentially making it harder to track civilian agency pension obligations.
• The bill requires Departments of Commerce and Health and Human Services to contribute to the Defense fund for their officers' pensions, creating an unusual cross-departmental financial obligation that may complicate budget planning.
• No sunset or review provision is included, meaning the contribution obligation to cover the unfunded liability will persist indefinitely unless Congress acts to modify or repeal the law.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill extends earned pension benefits to federal uniformed officers who performed government service, which is a legitimate public benefit. However, it shifts the cost of those pensions to the general Defense budget and requires taxpayers to fund a retroactive liability for service already performed, creating a concrete fiscal cost to the public without clear offsetting savings or efficiency gains.

Who stands to gain

• NOAA Commissioned Corps officers (current and retired)
• Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers (current and retired)

Named in the bill

Department of Defense, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Public Health Service (PHS), Department of Commerce, Department of Health and Human Services, Board of Actuaries, Military Retirement Fund

Where it stands

2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• May 11, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• May 11, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Armed Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $854,387 in lobbying spend. A filing names 50 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Jamie Raskin, the sponsor, reported $412,639 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Military Officers Association of America — $854,387 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.