Help the Marines, Not the Lawyers

by Newt Gingrich

My father was a career U.S. Army infantryman, so I grew up on military bases around the world. In Congress, I took a profound interest in shaping American military policy – and ensuring that our service-men and -women were treated honorably.

Today, I am gravely concerned that many U.S. Marines and their families have been left without recourse after being sickened by benzene-tainted water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

On Aug. 10, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) as part of the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022. The CLJA allows veterans and others exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 to file a claim with the Department of the Navy for compensation.

However, under the Biden administration, unscrupulous trial lawyers (who charged fees as much as 50 percent of the veterans’ compensation) were allowed to partner with Andrew Weissmann’s liberal lawfare-friendly firm Jenner & Block. These attorneys racked up outrageous expenses, delayed the process, and deprived veterans of their hope of compensation – and the chance to obtain it before it’s too late.

In short, a law ostensibly designed to compensate veterans and their families converted a simple claims fund into a giveaway designed to enrich politically connected trial lawyers. The results have been predictable and despicable. Three years later, only 101 claims have been paid out of the approximately 500,000 claims that have been filed. This is all the proof one needs to show that the current system is not working for these veterans.

This must end. President Donald J. Trump’s administration should abandon the expensive, lengthy litigation process agreed to by his predecessor in favor of a far cheaper claims settlement process administered by the Pentagon. President Biden left our veterans behind in favor of his trial lawyer friends. Now, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins have an opportunity to clean up the mess. Fortunately, there is a clear path to do so.

In 1991, Congress passed and implemented The Agent Orange Act to compensate our veterans who were exposed to the chemical Agent Orange during their service. In that instance, Congress, the Department of Defense, the VA, the National Academy of Sciences, veteran service organizations, and others worked together to ensure that Vietnam veterans affected by Agent Orange received the compensation that they deserved. This administration should follow a similar path and promptly take care of our veterans who were exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.

When we implemented the Agent Orange compensation system, lawyers were not allowed to take the lion’s share of the funds. They were also not allowed to delay the process to further enrich themselves. The Agent Orange system was simple for our veterans to access, expeditious in its processing, and swift in its payout. This is what our veterans deserve – and nothing less. With modern technology and communications, resorting to the courts and trial lawyers is unnecessary.

Biden’s Department of Justice and Navy failed these veterans. The CLJA was designed to provide compensation to the veterans and their families, but the government fought, denied, and delayed the settlement of claims. An attempt to provide a means to resolution resulted in the construction of a non-functional online portal which cost tens of millions of dollars.

Given how badly this has played out, any attempted legislative fixes within the current framework will further entrench the trial lawyers to the disadvantage of our veterans. We should instead use administrative steps that are proven to be successful.

Pulling this issue away from lawyers will allow the Navy and the VA to administer claims at a fraction of the cost. The Trump administration has an opportunity to get it right and support our Marine veterans and their families.

I truly hope that the Trump administration corrects the Biden administration’s mistakes, abandons the lawyer-dependent framework, and quickly gets these brave veterans the compensation they deeply deserve.

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