United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________

ROBERT E. COOPER, JR., Claimant-Appellant

v.

DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee ______________________

2021-2023 ______________________

Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No. 19-2009, Judge Amanda L. Mere- dith, Judge Coral Wong Pietsch, Judge Joseph L. Toth. ______________________

Decided: January 23, 2023 ______________________

CHRIS ATTIG, Attig Curran Steel PLLC, Little Rock, AR, argued for claimant-appellant. Also represented by HALEY SMITH; JUDY JOANNE DONEGAN, The Veterans Con- sortium Pro Bono Program, Washington, DC.

JOSHUA E. KURLAND, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Wash- ington, DC, argued for respondent-appellee. Also repre- sented by BRIAN M. BOYNTON, ELIZABETH MARIE HOSFORD, PATRICIA M. MCCARTHY; JONATHAN KRISCH, Y. KEN LEE, Case: 21-2023 Document: 56 Page: 2 Filed: 01/23/2023

2 COOPER v. MCDONOUGH

Office of General Counsel, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC. ______________________

Before PROST, CHEN, and STOLL, Circuit Judges. CHEN, Circuit Judge. Robert Cooper appeals a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Veterans Court) af- firming a decision by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) that denied Mr. Cooper’s request to exclude state unemployment compensation payments from his annual income for purposes of calculating his non-service-con- nected (NSC) pension. The Veterans Court found that un- employment compensation payments are not excluded from a veteran’s annual income under an exception for “do- nations from public or private relief or welfare organiza- tions.” 38 U.S.C. § 1503(a)(1). Because we agree that state unemployment compensation payments are not “dona- tions,” we affirm. BACKGROUND I A veteran who served during a period of war and is “permanently and totally disabled from non-service-con- nected disability not the result of the veteran’s willful mis- conduct” may be entitled to an NSC pension. 38 U.S.C. § 1521(a), (j). NSC pensions are need based, and thus the maximum annual rate of pension is “reduced by the amount of the veteran’s annual income.” Id. § 1521(b); see also Review of the Non-Service-Connected Pension Pro- gram: Hearing on H.R. 904, H.R. 2120, H.R. 9000, H.R. 10173, etc. Before the Subcomm. on Comp., Pension, & Ins. of the H. Comm. on Veterans’ Affs., 95th Cong. 127 (1978) (statement of Rep. G.V. Montgomery, Chairman, Subcomm. on Comp., Pension, & Ins.) (“The non-service- connected pension program is a needs program. The Case: 21-2023 Document: 56 Page: 3 Filed: 01/23/2023

COOPER v. MCDONOUGH 3

amount of pension paid . . . relates specifically to the amount of other income which the individual has available to him.”). In general, a veteran’s “annual income” includes “all payments of any kind or from any source.” 38 U.S.C. § 1503(a). Congress, however, excluded certain categories of payments, including “donations from public or private relief or welfare organizations.” Id. § 1503(a)(1). II Mr. Cooper served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from March to September 1972 and from February to April 1973. Cooper v. McDonough, 33 Vet. App. 341, 343 (2021). In 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) granted Mr. Cooper entitlement to an NSC pension. Id. In 2014, the VA notified Mr. Cooper tha