Veterans Affairs committee adopts rules requiring disclosure of funding tied to foreign adversaries; 10%-budget amendment rejected

At its organizational meeting, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs adopted a rules package that adds new disclosure requirements for witnesses who receive funding from entities associated with foreign adversaries or countries of concern, including grants tied to TikTok, Chairman Mike Bost said.

The changes to the committee rules also authorize electronic voting when possible and update the committee's truth-in-testimony disclosure practices. Ranking Member Mark Takano offered an amendment that would have required witnesses to disclose any single funding source amounting to more than 10% of their organization’s operating budget; the committee voted the amendment down.

Chairman Mike Bost, who opened the meeting, framed the rules change as a response to concerns about foreign influence in veteran-related testimony. "We as Congress had enough of a concern about the TikTok ban," Bost said, adding that the committee updated its rules to "require the witness to disclose funding that comes from entities associated with foreign adversaries such as TikTok." He described the committee as bipartisan and said he was committed to using the panel to serve veterans.

Ranking Member Mark Takano described his amendment as a transparency measure that would require witnesses to disclose…