In GI Bill case, VA drops appeal, giving another 1.2 million vets extra education benefits

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has withdrawn from a court battle related to the landmark Supreme Court ruling in favor of Army veteran James Rudisill, creating a path for 1.2 million veterans who had no break in service to access up to 12 additional months of college through their GI Bill benefits.

The VA said in a Feb. 27 email to some beneficiaries that it's "making it easier for eligible Veterans to receive their additional GI Bill benefits" as the result of the Rudisill ruling and a related decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The VA said it "will automatically evaluate your file and inform you if additional action is required."

Since the 2024 Supreme Court decision, the VA had been excluding veterans who had one continuous period of service from accessing the maximum 48 months of benefits under both the Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI Bills. Instead, the department was applying the court's decision to vets who, like Rudisill, had a break in their service.

Their narrow interpretation was challenged in a second case, and, in May, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled it was wrong to exclude vets who'd served continuously — the ruling the VA has now decided not to appeal.

Timothy McHugh, one of several dozen attorneys around the country who worked pro bono, said it's a relief the VA dropped its stance.

"This is a huge step in the right direction," said McHugh, a former Army paratrooper and Virgina attorney with the law firm Troutman Pepper Locke.

But McHugh and other lawyers said the fight isn't over.

Now, there's another legal case — a rulemaking challenge — in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington to try to straighten out what the veterans' attorneys say is contradictory language in the rules the VA uses to evaluate claims. The challenge is supported by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

"The old rules are still on the books," said attorney Mary Grace Metcalfe, of Troutman Pepper Locke, who called the VA's turnabout a positive "first step."

Attorney David DePippo, a Coast Guard veteran who works for Dominion Energy and has spent years volunteering on the Rudisill case, said he hopes veterans get what they earned.

Otherwise, "This is just another way to deny what [the VA] never thought was appropriate in the first place," DePippo said.

The long-running court fights could affect 2.2 million or more veterans who earned college benefits under both the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

Rudisill began his court fight in 2015, after he was denied the ability to fully use both his GI Bill plans. He argued that the VA shortchanged him 12 months of payments — money he was counting on to attend Yale University's divinity school.

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in April 2024 that Rudisill should've been allowed to tap both plans for up to a maximum of 48 months, as Congress intended.

Kassidy Perkins, of Virginia, served continuously in the Air Force for six years and was one of the plaintiffs in the Rudisill-related case. Perkins said many veterans like her are counting on the extra 12 months of benefits for graduate or law school.

"I do think fair's fair. We were told something at basic training and then to be told six years later that that was not the case — it's certainly not an uncommon experience for veterans to feel that they were shortchanged on benefits," Perkins said.

VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz said that, "after the court decision, VA worked for months with both political and career VA staff to develop the training, policies and procedures needed to appropriately implement the ruling."

The VA didn't comment on the rulemaking fight. Another unanswered question is whether the VA will reimburse veterans who got loans to pay for school while the court battles dragged on.

Grant Jacobson, deputy superintendent of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Cook County, said the office is following the Rudisill litigation closely so it can advise veterans. The office also administers emergency financial assistance to eligible veterans and helps connect them to benefits they've earned.