There’s an cadence in the Army: if the Army gives you $100, expect it to take $99 back. There is something fundamentally wrong when the United States government tells a servicemember, "thank you for your sacrifice," and then turns around and takes away benefits that servicemembers have earned.

That's exactly what happens under the military's outdated 60-day leave carryover cap. Leave is not a handout. It is not a bonus. Leave is earned compensation. Every day of leave on a servicemember's record was earned through deployments, training exercises, missed holidays, missed birthdays, missed anniversaries, and countless hours spent serving the nation.

Yet under current law, the government can simply erase that benefit.

Not because the servicemember failed to earn it.

Not because the commander determined it wasn't deserved.

Not because of misconduct.

But because the servicemember was too busy doing the job America asked them to do.

That is absurd and it’s the government stealing from its own military.

As a combat veteran myself, I know the military routinely tells troops that the mission comes first. Then, when operational demands prevent them from taking leave, the government punishes them by confiscating the leave they earned.

How does that make any sense?

At a time when military leaders openly acknowledge recruiting and retention challenges, and our focus on overcoming those challenges, we should not be defending a policy that sends exactly the wrong message. Work harder. Deploy more. Sacrifice more. Spend more time away from your family. And if that prevents you from using your earned leave before an arbitrary deadline, too bad—you lose it.

No private-sector employer could get away with that logic. Congress shouldn't tolerate it for the men and women defending this country.

My amendment to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act fixes this oversight. It’s not radical. It is not complicated.

It does not increase military pay. It does not create a new entitlement. It does not diminish command authority. It does not require commanders to approve a single additional day of leave.

I am asking to remove the statutory 60-day leave carryover cap, allowing servicemembers to retain leave they have earned through their service and use it when it’s valuable to them. Whether that be during their time in uniform or to help ease the transition to civilian life, put the decision in their hands where it belongs. 

Opponents may talk about systems, policies, and administrative concerns. But none of those arguments answer the basic question: Why should the government be allowed to take earned compensation away from a servicemember?

There is no good answer.

Commanders will still control leave. Mission requirements will still come first. The difference is that servicemembers will no longer face an annual race against the calendar to avoid losing benefits they've already earned.

The current system creates exactly the wrong incentives. Every year, troops are pressured to take leave because of a deadline rather than because it makes sense for their unit, their family, or their mission. It is inefficient. It is unnecessary. And everyone knows it.

Congress has spent years creating temporary exceptions and special carve-outs because lawmakers understand the policy is broken. If a rule requires endless exceptions to make it fair, the problem is the rule itself.

I need a Senator willing to buck the status quo and stand with me, sponsoring my amendment in the Senate version of the NDAA. Someone willing to look our servicemembers in the eyes and say, we will no longer let this continue. 

This should not be a difficult decision.

America asks extraordinary things of its military. The least we can do is stop taking away compensation they have already earned.

If Members of Congress truly support the troops, now is the time to prove it.

End the confiscation of earned leave. And send a simple message to every servicemember in uniform: what you earn through your service belongs to you.