Disabled American Veterans Ramps Up Lobbying Spend Amid VA Turbulence

The Disabled American Veterans filed its First Quarter 2026 DAV lobbying disclosure this week, reporting $175,948 in in-house lobbying expenditures — its highest single-quarter spend in at least a year, and a sign of escalating advocacy activity as the veterans organization navigates a turbulent policy environment at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

---

Why It Matters

DAV's core concern is straightforward: the federal apparatus that delivers benefits and health care to disabled veterans is under pressure from multiple directions simultaneously. The Trump administration's DOGE-driven workforce reductions at the VA — projected to affect as many as 80,000 employees, or roughly one in five VA workers — threaten the agency's capacity to process claims and deliver care. At the same time, a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee report released in January 2026 found that a "flawed AI model from DOGE" was used to cancel approximately 2,000 VA contracts. DAV's legislative goal is straightforward: protect VA appropriations and ensure the agency continues delivering benefits and services to veterans, their dependents, and survivors. A legislative win would look like stable or increased VA funding, accountability measures on PACT Act implementation, and protections against means-testing of disability compensation.

---

By the Numbers: DAV Lobbying Disclosure Spending Trends

DAV conducts all of its lobbying in-house — no outside firms are engaged. The organization's seven-person lobbying team filed a single disclosure for the First Quarter of 2026, reporting $175,948 in expenditures.

That figure represents a notable jump from the prior three quarters, each of which came in at $141,405. The Fourth Quarter of 2025 saw an uptick to $161,271, and the First Quarter of 2026 climbed further still. Over the trailing 12 months ending with this filing, DAV spent approximately $585,486 on lobbying activity.

The lobbying team has remained largely stable across all five filings reviewed. Six named lobbyists — Naomi Mathis, Joseph Lemay, Sham Capizzi, Peter Dickinson, Jon Retzer, and Shane Liermann — appear consistently. A seventh lobbyist, listed only by ID in the First Quarter 2026 filing, appears to be new to the team this quarter.

Peter Dickinson is the only member of the team with a confirmed congressional staff record in the database. He served as Communications Director for Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) and had a stint on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee — experience directly relevant to DAV's advocacy work. Dickinson also maintains a separate, parallel lobbying engagement for the National Association of State Veterans Homes, where he has filed quarterly at a flat $10,000 rate for 13 consecutive quarters.

Joseph Lemay, another member of the DAV team, has a documented history of lobbying on veterans' civil rights legislation — specifically a multi-year campaign on behalf of a client seeking GI Bill restoration for Black WWII veterans, totaling approximately $450,000 across nine quarters ending in early 2025.

---

The Agenda: What the DAV Lobbying Disclosure Does and Doesn't Say

The First Quarter 2026 DAV lobbying disclosure lists no specific issues or legislation in its issues field — a notable omission for a filing of this size. The disclosure identifies seven lobbyists and a dollar amount, but leaves the specific issues lobbied field blank.

That said, DAV's prior quarterly filings are more revealing. Each of the four 2025 quarterly disclosures described the same core issue: "Department of Veterans Affairs appropriations and its delivery of benefits and services to veterans, their dependents and survivors."

Those prior filings also tracked an extensive legislative portfolio — hundreds of House and Senate bills spanning veterans' healthcare, disability compensation, housing, education, employment, and suicide prevention. Named legislation included S. 972, the Fairness in Veterans' Education Act of 2025; S. 2518, the Protecting Air Ambulance Services for Americans Act of 2025; and S. 1441, the SAVES Act of 2025, a suicide prevention measure.

DAV's publicly stated 2026 legislative priorities — laid out in testimony before the Joint Committee on Veterans Affairs on February 24, 2026 — center on three concerns: long waits for disability decisions, inconsistent application of the PACT Act's toxic exposure provisions, and proposed reductions or limitations on disability compensation.

---

Broader Context: A Challenging Policy Environment

The backdrop for this DAV lobbying disclosure is one of the more consequential periods for veterans policy in recent memory.

The DOGE-driven VA workforce reductions have drawn sharp bipartisan concern. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated the cuts represent a 17 percent reduction in the VA workforce. VA Secretary Doug Collins has pushed back, stating publicly that veterans' benefits are not being cut — but the debate has continued in Congress.

In February 2026, NPR reported that the VA announced it would not enforce a rule that would have affected veterans' benefits — a controversy that came to a head at DAV's own National Convention, where the VA's Deputy Secretary for Benefits addressed the issue directly.

DAV also testified before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee in October 2025, where senators heard from DAV alongside the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the VFW. According to a press release from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, DAV and other VSOs condemned OMB Director Russell Vought's proposal to means-test veterans' benefits and raised concerns that their Veterans Service Officers had been barred from VA Regional Offices during a government shutdown — limiting their ability to assist veterans accessing benefits.

On the House side, a January 14, 2026 subcommittee hearing on VA disability rating modernization examined whether the VA's disability rating schedule — the mechanism that determines monthly compensation for millions of veterans — is accurate and up to date. That hearing, featuring testimony from the Government Accountability Office, touches directly on a policy area where DAV has long been active.

The annual joint House-Senate VSO Legislative Presentation hearing, held February 25, 2025, also featured DAV prominently. A member statement at the hearing specifically praised DAV's work helping disabled veterans and their spouses find employment and called on Congress to support DAV's recommendations.

Congressional communications reflect DAV's active footprint. Rep. Ken Calvert cited DAV's endorsement of the Stuck on Hold Act, which would require the VA to improve its customer service phone systems. Rep. Chris Pappas noted DAV's endorsement of the Veterans' Transition to Trucking Act. And Rep. Brad Finstad quoted DAV's Minnesota chapter directly in a press release supporting new VA Vet Center legislation.

---

The Bottom Line

DAV's First Quarter 2026 lobbying spend is its highest in recent memory, reflecting an organization pressing harder on Congress at a moment when the VA's funding and workforce face sustained pressure. The blank specific-issues field in this disclosure limits visibility into exactly what the team is working on this quarter — but the trajectory of spending and the broader policy environment tell a clear story. Veterans organization lobbying on VA appropriations and benefits delivery is not a new phenomenon, but the scale and urgency of the current debate over VA staffing, PACT Act implementation, and disability compensation policy give DAV's advocacy particular relevance heading into the remainder of 2026.

---

Access the Legis1 platform for comprehensive political news, data, and insights.