Military sexual trauma survivors can sue the government.
S. 4877 — Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act · Filed by Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
This bill lets military members and veterans sue the U.S. government. They can sue for sexual misconduct by other service members. They can also sue if the military failed to stop or investigate it. People have five years to file a lawsuit. The government cannot reduce money owed based on benefits already received. The bill applies to past cases.
Who it affects
Military sexual trauma survivors gain the right to sue the government. The military and the Department of Veterans Affairs may face many lawsuits and costs.
One thing to notice
The bill applies to past cases. No limit is set on how much money a person can win in court.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jun 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jun 24, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- applies to past cases — The new rule works for events that happened before the bill became law.
- five years — The time period in which a person can file a lawsuit.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 15, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 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 2026-09-23.
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