Rudisill v. McDonough
Issues
Does the post-9/11 GI Bill limit education benefits for a veteran who qualifies for both the Montgomery and Post-9/11 GI Bills, by requiring that the veteran first exhaust their Montgomery benefits or make a 38 U.S.C. § 3327(a) election between educational benefits, or is a veteran entitled to both benefits due to two distinct service periods?
This case asks the Supreme Court to decide whether the Federal Circuit erred in holding that a veteran who switched from using Montgomery GI Bill educational benefits to Post–9/11 GI Bill benefits is limited to only accessing his remaining Montgomery benefits. Petitioner James Rudisill asserts that the Federal Circuit improperly reads § 3327(a) as mandatory and wrongly applies it to certain classes of veterans in a manner not intended by Congress, and in conflict with the pro-veteran canon. The respondent, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough, counters that § 3327(a) remains elective and is applicable to all veterans, and that Rudisill’s invocation of the pro-veteran canon is improper. This case could impact the educational benefits of millions of veterans, as well as the application of the veterans’ canon, an interpretive tool by which courts assume Congress intends interpretations of ambiguous statutory text that favor veterans.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether a veteran who has served two separate and distinct periods of qualifying service under the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post–9/11 GI Bill is entitled to receive a total of 48 months of education benefits as between both programs, without first exhausting the Montgomery benefit in order to obtain the more generous Post–9/11 benefit.
Appellee James Rudisill (“Rudisill”) is a veteran who served in active–duty three separate times, amounting to almost 8 years of active service between 2000 and 2011. Rudisill v.
Additional Resources
- Katherine Knott, Supreme Court to Hear GI Bill Case, Inside Higher Ed (June 28, 2023).
- Stephanie Zimmerman, Supreme Court to Hear Decorated Army Vet’s Claim That VA Shortchanged His GI Bill Benefits, Chicago Sun–Times (June 26, 2023).