Executive Order mandates faster veteran record sharing and job placement
The order obligates the Secretaries of War and Veterans Affairs to share military and medical records within 180 days, accelerating benefits and employment for transitioning service members.
Executive Order 14426, signed September 8, 2026, directs the Secretary of War and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to overhaul records management between the Department of War and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Within 180 days, the agencies must establish updated information technology systems and policy guidance to ensure permanent, prospective, and ongoing sharing of all Official Military Personnel Files and Service Treatment Records from enlistment through the end of benefits eligibility, consistent with 38 U.S.C. 5103A, 38 U.S.C. 8111, 38 U.S.C. 7332(e), and 5 U.S.C. 552a.
The order also requires that, within 30 days and at all times thereafter, current service members' personnel and health records be transferred immediately to the Department of Veterans Affairs upon discharge. Within the same 180-day window, the Secretaries must create and deploy new digital tools employing artificial intelligence and other emerging capabilities to streamline veterans' applications for benefits and to integrate job-training opportunities offered by the Department of Labor into a single source.
Contractual obligations are addressed in Section 2(b). Within 120 days, the Secretaries, in consultation with HHS's Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and OMB's Federal Chief Information Officer, must review and modify existing IT contracts to require interoperability with any other military personnel or health-records system. All future contracts for medical and personnel IT systems must include this interoperability requirement.
Section 3 directs the Secretary of War, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Veterans Affairs, to update the Transition Assistance Program and related workforce programs within 180 days. The update must connect each separating service member to specific open jobs aligned with their skills or enroll them in career-technical education, Department of Labor-funded training, or registered apprenticeships for which they have priority under 38 U.S.C. 4215, and link them with appropriate veterans' representatives for benefits applications.
General provisions state that the order does not impair existing agency authority, is subject to appropriations, and creates no enforceable right. Publication costs are to be borne by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The order appears in the Federal Register as FR Doc No. 2026-18738, filed September 10, 2026.
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