Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff is under fire after taking a victory lap for allegedly spearheading veterans assistance legislation, which the bill’s sole sponsor says the Georgia Democrat had no role in drafting or helping clear the upper chamber.
Ossoff, the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent seeking reelection in 2026, has taken credit for H.R. 1815, a law providing veterans with federal assistance for housing in recent weeks, including hosting a celebratory press conference in August with Georgia veterans. Republican Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden, the legislation’s sole sponsor, has excoriated Ossoff for claiming to champion a bill he played no role in passing and accused the Georgia Democrat of using veterans as “political props” in pursuit of his reelection bid.
“Today I am here to celebrate that President [Donald] Trump has signed our bipartisan bill into law to protect American veterans from foreclosure and prevent veteran homelessness,” Ossoff said during a press conference with veterans and local community leaders in Columbus, Georgia, on Aug. 20.
“We in the Senate — Republicans and Democrats — worked together to pass this legislation in order to strengthen foreclosure prevention for American veterans,” Ossoff continued. “I celebrate that the president had signed our bipartisan bill to protect veterans from foreclosure.”
Ossoff did not cosponsor the legislation nor speak in support of the bill when it was considered on the Senate floor in July, according to a DCNF review of the legislation’s passage through Congress.
The Georgia Democrat also did not formally vote on the legislation — which did not receive a Senate floor vote. The bill instead passed in the upper chamber by a unanimous consent request, a procedure usually reserved for noncontroversial bills. Senate Majority Leader John Thune asked for consent to pass the legislation on the floor on July 15 and no senators objected.
A spokesperson for Ossoff did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s multiple requests for comment inquiring about how the Georgia Democrat “helped pass” the legislation.
H.R. 1815, also known as the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act, was drafted by Van Orden, originated in the House of Representatives and had no cosponsors.
Upon passing the House in May, the legislation was discharged from the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs by unanimous consent in July. Ossoff does not sit on the panel and did not offer any amendments on the bill before its passage.
A Senate GOP aide told the DCNF that Democratic Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester introduced a Senate companion to Van Orden’s bill in May, but that the upper chamber ultimately took up the House-passed product. Ossoff did not cosponsor the Senate version.
Still, Ossoff put out a series of press releases touting his work helping provide Georgia veterans with federal assistance for housing.
“U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff brought Republicans and Democrats together to help protect Georgia veterans from foreclosure,” an Ossoff press release published six days after the legislation cleared the upper chamber reads. “Last week, Sen. Ossoff helped pass bipartisan legislation to help ensure veterans using Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home loans can keep their homes.”
Van Orden, the bill’s sole sponsor who was present during the legislation’s signing ceremony in the White House on July 30, has taken issue with Ossoff’s claims.
“@SenOssoff had absolutely nothing to do with this bill, and I mean nothing,” Van Orden, who served in the U.S. Navy for 26 years with five combat deployments, wrote on the social media platform X on Friday. “He did not even VOTE for it, it passed by UC [unanimous consent].”
“This disgusting and shameful behavior must stop,” Van Orden added. “Veterans are not political props.”
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman Tim Scott and three Republican candidates vying to take on Ossoff in the midterms contest slammed the Georgia Democrat for claiming responsibility for the bill. Republicans view Ossoff’s seat as a top flip opportunity in 2026, but have yet to unite around a GOP challenger.
“He had nothing to do with this Republican effort to assist Veterans,” Scott wrote on X. “But now in his political desperation, he’s trying to take credit.”
“Georgia deserves so much better,” Scott added.
Following Ossoff flexing his alleged collaboration with Republicans to pass the veterans assistance bill during the Aug. 20 press conference, the Georgia Democrat went on MSNBC later that evening and exuded a sharply partisan tone.
Democrats, Ossoff said, needed to “strike back” against Republicans’ redistricting efforts and suggested his party would investigate the president’s “malfeasance” and “corruption” upon taking back the House in 2026.
“We have no time or luxury for high-minded hesitation because Trump and MAGA are going to everything within their power to hold on and to lock in one party rule in America,” Ossoff said. “That’s the reality that we face.”
Ossoff also characterized his Republican colleagues as cowardly in standing up to Trump’s policy agenda, which he has repeatedly opposed during key votes in 2025. He voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the president’s signature legislative accomplishment and has been a vocal critic of the administration’s immigration enforcement activities.
“I believe that the American people have rejected this draconian and inhumane approach to interior enforcement,” Ossoff continued. “But in terms of my Republican colleagues no spine is yet visible in the Senate.”
