The House of Representatives and Senate this week acted on S. 2392, the Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2025, sponsored originally by Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS). The measure passed both chambers.  

A Presidential signature is expected shortly, kicking in additional compensation for inflation for wartime disability, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) for surviving spouses and children.  

The required annual legislation, delayed this year by nearly a month due to the federal government shutdown, follows the announcement on October 24 of the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The payments will increase by 2.8 percent beginning in January 2026 for nearly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries and nearly 7.5 million people receiving SSI payments. Some recipients receive both Social Security benefits and SSI. 

The legislation is the formality that requires VA to increase the amounts by the same percentage beginning December 1, 2025, as the COLA increase in benefits for Social Security recipients. The bill also requires VA to publish the amounts payable, as increased, in the Federal Register. VA is further authorized under the legislation to make a similar adjustment to the rates of disability compensation payable to persons who have not received compensation for service-connected disability or death. 

Over the last decade, the COLA increase has averaged approximately 3.1 percent. The COLA was 2.5 percent in 2025. Although the original Social Security Act was passed in 1935, subsequent legislation ties the annual COLA to the change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additional information about the current COLA is available below.