With Honor Action, Inc. (commonly known as âÂÂWith HonorâÂÂ) is a U.S. 501(c)(4) social-welfare nonprofit organization that advocates for principled veteran leadership in elected office and for cross-partisan cooperation in Congress. Founded in 2017, the organization focuses on reducing political polarization by supporting veteran candidates and advancing bipartisan legislation, particularly in national security, national service, and veteransâ affairs.
With Honor was co-founded by Marine Corps veterans Rye Barcott and Peter Dixon, and Navy veteran David Gergen, a longtime presidential advisor.
With Honor Action was established in early 2017 as part of a broader initiative known as With Honor, aimed at recruiting, supporting, and electing post-9/11 U.S. military veterans who take the With Honor Pledge to serve with integrity, civility, and courage. The founders cited the decline in veteran representation in Congress from more than seventy percent to below twenty percent and rising polarization as central motivations for the organizationâÂÂs creation.
With Honor publicly launched on Veterans Day 2017, when Barcott and Jake Wood,àco-founder of Team Rubicon and a member of With HonorâÂÂs inaugural advisory board, published an op-ed in Time, arguing that increasing next-generation veteran representation in Congress could serve as an antidote to political dysfunction.
The organization defines its mission as promoting and advancing principled veteran leadership in elected public service and fostering a culture of collaboration across party lines. Its activities include candidate support and advocacy, policy education, issue-based coalitions, and legislative engagement.
Barcott, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, Bosnia, and the Horn of Africa, serves as With HonorâÂÂs chief executive officer. He has stated that the organizationâÂÂs mission is rooted in the belief that the decline in veteran representation in Congress has contributed to increased dysfunction and polarization in U.S. politics. Having served in the Marine Corps with current United States Representative Seth Moulton, a Democrat, and former Representative Mike Gallagher, a Republican, Barcott has cited a dedication to a âÂÂcommon missionâ as part of the inspiration for With Honor.
With Honor has also identified financial barriers and limited access to political networks as significant challenges facing younger veterans seeking public office. With Honor addresses these obstacles by providing early-stage support, issue education, and access to political networks.
Veteran candidates endorsed by With Honor are asked to take the With Honor Pledge, committing to serve in public office with integrity, civility, and courage; to meet one-on-one with members of the other party at least once a month, and to co-sponsor bipartisan legislation at least once per year. The organization describes the pledge as the foundation of its approach to governance and as a mechanism for institutionalizing bipartisan engagement among its endorsed candidates.
Following the 2018 midterm elections, veteran members of the U.S. House of Representatives supported by With Honor established the For Country Caucus, a bipartisan congressional caucus. At its founding, it included nearly 20 members in the U.S. House of Representatives and was co-chaired by Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), a Navy veteran and son of Leon Panetta, and Representative Don Bacon (R-NE), a retired Air Force brigadier general who served for nearly 30 years. Vice-chairs included Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), an Air Force veteran, and then-Representative Michael Waltz, an Army veteran and a former Green Beret. The caucus is currently co-chaired by Navy veteran Representative Jake Ellzey and Air Force veteran Representative Don Davis.
The caucus has since expanded and continues to operate on a bipartisan basis, meeting regularly and collaborating on shared legislative priorities. Former members include New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, and former Representative Peter Meijer.
Since at least 2023, With Honor has also engaged with a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators with backgrounds in military, foreign, and intelligence services. Members of this informal coalition have included Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), an Air Force veteran, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), an Army veteran, Senator Todd Young (R-IN), a Marine Corps veteran, and Senator Mark Kelly, a Navy veteran.
With Honor Action is partnered with the U.S. Competitiveness Project, which is led by the office of Michael Porter. In a 2017 report, Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America, Michael Porter and Katherine Gehl wrote: "Politics in America is not a hopeless problem, though it is easy to feel this way given what we experience and read about every day. There are promising reforms already gaining traction including important elements of the strategy we propose. It is up to us as citizens to recapture our democracyâÂÂit will not be self-correcting."
With Honor has partnered with several research organizations to conduct national polling on issues related to national service, veterans, and U.S. foreign policy. In 2021, the organization partnered with Voices for National Service on a national survey that found strong support among young Americans for expanding service opportunities, with 81% of adults aged 18-24 supporting expansion through programs such as AmeriCorps.
In 2023, With Honor partnered with the research firm Ipsos to assess public attitudes towards evacuating and resettling Afghan allies who assisted U.S. forces during the war in Afghanistan. The poll found broad bipartisan support for honoring U.S. commitments, with nearly nine in ten Americans expressing support for resettlement efforts.
In 2025, With Honor partnered with Gallup on a national survey examining American perceptions of military veterans as political leaders. The poll found that a majority of U.S. adults reported being more likely to vote for a candidate with prior military service than one without, a higher preference than for candidates with government or business experience.
With Honor Action is partnered with organizations focused on governance reform, veteransâ issues, and national security, including The Lugar Center, the Special Competitive Studies Project, the American Legion, Travis Manion Foundation, Blue Star Families, VFW, Team Rubicon, and the Munich Security Conference. The organization also worked with several congressional commissions, including the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service; the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence; the Cyberspace Solarium Commission; and the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology.
Since establishing its advocacy arm, With Honor has supported the passage of over 200 legislative provisions, primarily related to national security, national service, and veteransâ affairs.
In 2020, the organization led a coalition of next-generation veteran nonprofits, including Team Rubicon, the Travis Manion Foundation, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and Student Veterans of America, to advocate for the CORPS Act, elements of which were later enacted in the American Rescue Plan Act including nearly $1 billion in funding for AmeriCorps.
With Honor also supported the passage of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Location Act, which authorized the placement of a future memorial on the Reserve of the National Mall.
In the lead-up to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the organization helped establish the Evacuate our Allies Coalition, which advocated for the relocation and resettlement of Afghan nationals who assisted U.S. forces. The groupâÂÂs efforts contributed to the largest expansion of the Special Immigrant Visa program in its history in 2024.
With HonorâÂÂs advocacy work has been covered extensively by national media and international media, including on NPR, Fox News, TIME, The Atlantic. The Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, Military Times, C-SPAN, and SiriusXM.