VA to Resume NICS Reporting for Fiduciary Veterans, Affecting 127,000, Sources Say

The January 27 Announcement

The Department of Veterans Affairs will resume reporting veterans assigned fiduciaries to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System, affecting approximately 127,000 beneficiaries, according to two VA officials familiar with the policy. The formal announcement is scheduled for January 27, 2026, and the reporting will begin on February 15, the officials said.

The policy reverses a March 2024 VA directive that halted automatic NICS reporting for veterans who received help managing their benefits through the fiduciary program. Under the new policy, veterans determined to be "mentally incompetent" for VA purposes will again be referred to the FBI as prohibited firearms purchasers, the officials said.

A 12-page internal memo circulated to VA regional offices on January 16, 2026, directs staff to begin reviewing fiduciary cases opened since March 2024 for possible NICS submission, the officials said. The memo sets a deadline of April 30, 2026, for regional offices to clear the backlog, the officials said.

The memo instructs regional offices to use a new NICS transaction code, designated "VAF-2026-F," when submitting veteran records, the officials said. The code is intended to distinguish VA fiduciary submissions from other NICS entries, the officials said.

The VA currently manages benefits for roughly 127,000 veterans through fiduciary appointments, according to the officials. About 18,000 of those cases involve veterans under age 55, the officials said. The new policy will apply to all current fiduciary recipients unless they successfully appeal the competency determination, the officials said.

The officials said the policy was approved by VA Secretary Doug Collins on January 12, 2026, following a review requested by the White House Domestic Policy Council in November 2025. The review was completed on January 5, the officials said.

Coordination with Justice Department and FBI

The policy change follows a series of meetings between VA officials, the FBI, and the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy in December 2025 and January 2026, according to a veterans-service-organization representative briefed on the discussions. The representative said the first meeting took place on December 9, 2025, at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington.

A second meeting occurred on January 8, 2026, at the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia, the representative said. Officials at that meeting discussed technical procedures for transmitting veteran records to NICS and agreed that the FBI would begin accepting the new submissions on February 15, the representative said.

A military spouse advocate who has worked with fiduciary veterans said families began receiving letters from the VA in mid-January warning that "benefit management status may be reported to appropriate law enforcement databases." The advocate reviewed three such letters, all dated January 13, 2026, and all sent from the VA's Philadelphia regional office.

A Justice Department official with knowledge of the filing said DOJ is preparing guidance for U.S. attorneys on how to handle appeals from veterans who dispute their NICS status. The guidance is expected to be issued by February 1, the official said.

The veterans-service-organization representative said the FBI has assigned a liaison from its NICS operations center to work with VA records managers during the transition. The liaison will be based at the CJIS facility and will hold weekly video conferences with VA regional offices starting January 29, the representative said.

Opposition and What to Watch

Several veterans organizations plan to challenge the policy. The veterans-service-organization representative said at least two national groups are preparing lawsuits and expect to file in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by early February. The representative declined to name the groups but said one lawsuit will argue the VA violated veterans' due process rights by relying on benefit determinations to strip firearms rights.

The groups are also preparing fact sheets for veterans explaining how to request a copy of their NICS record and how to file an appeal with the VA, the representative said. One of the fact sheets includes a sample Freedom of Information Act request addressed to the FBI's NICS Section in Clarksburg, the representative said.

A lawyer involved in a separate pending case against the VA in the Western District of Texas said attorneys are drafting a request for a preliminary injunction to block the February 15 start date. The lawyer said the injunction request will be filed by January 30 and will name Secretary Collins as a defendant.

Two Republican senators on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee are expected to send a letter to Collins on January 28 requesting a classified briefing on the policy before it takes effect, according to a Senate aide familiar with the committee's schedule. The aide said committee chairman Jerry Moran's office has already drafted the letter.

Watch for three developments in the next 48 to 72 hours: the formal VA announcement on January 27, a statement from the Justice Department clarifying the appeal process, and the first public opposition from veterans groups. Republican senators on the Veterans' Affairs Committee are expected to request a briefing by January 29, according to the Senate aide familiar with the committee's schedule.