Lawmakers press services to fix medical-waiver process after recruits and academy nominees are barred

A bipartisan line of questioning at the House Armed Services Subcommittee focused on what members described as inconsistent and sometimes punitive medical‑waiver decisions that prevent otherwise qualified applicants from joining the services or attending service academies.

Representative Sara Jacobs recounted a case in which a young applicant was denied admission to a service academy and an ROTC scholarship because a childhood medical notation for attention issues appeared in his record. "We ask these kids to ask for mental health help and then we penalize them," Jacobs said, and she pressed the services to reform the medical review process.

Lieutenant General Brian Eifler, U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff, acknowledged the problem and attributed some cases to electronic records: "The blessing and the curse of MHS Genesis allows us to see everything," he said, noting that records of remote or childhood conditions often trigger waiver requirements even when the condition is not current.

Why it matters: Members said the waiver process can deter recruits, penalize those who sought medical help, and is applied inconsistently across services and accession routes. Witnesses from the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force all said the waiver system has become cumbersome and that services use waivers broadly to admit candidates where appropriate, but they acknowledged the need to streamline and harmonize criteria.

Vice Admiral Cheeseman said the Navy has increased waivers and is taking a risk‑tolerant approach in many cases; "If we think the sailor ... poses no risk to themselves or the team ... then we're going to waive the condition and bring them on board," he said. Marine and Air Force witnesses echoed calls to simplify waiver handling and to reduce barriers when past, minor incidents do not correlate with later performance.

Members asked the services to provide consistent guidance and to work across DoD to reduce unnecessary barriers created by longitudinal records. Witnesses committed to follow-up briefings and to refining waiver criteria; members signaled they will continue oversight and consider legislative fixes if changes are not forthcoming.