📄 Summary
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is announcing that it will make no change in regulation to adjust for inflation the amount of civil monetary penalties that are allowed within VA's authorities. This notice is in accordance with the requirement in the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, to make annual adjustments to the penalties, based on the prior year's October Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and as interpreted and determined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Memorandum M-26-11. Due to the Government shutdown, BLS was unable to produce October 2025 data. Based on the lack of October 2025 CPI-U data, needed to make adjustments under the 2015 Act, OMB determined that there is no updated cost-of- living adjustment multiplier for 2026. VA continues to use the 2025 civil monetary penalty levels.
