News & Opinion

Legislation penned by Rep. Jon Runyan to help reduce the Department of Veterans Affairs’ backlog of more than 900,000 pending disability and pension claims is headed to the president’s desk Read more »

The day after Janey Ensminger would have celebrated her 36th birthday, the House of Representatives passed a historic bill in her honor that would help thousands of sick Marine veterans and their families who were exposed to contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Read more »

The U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee has opened an investigation into the use of a video camera disguised as a smoke detector in a veteran's room at James A. Haley VA Medical Center. Read more »

The possibility that sequestration could lead to an additional reduction of 100,000 active-duty troops has been seized upon by a key House Republican as the newest reason why the Defense Department needs special protection from across-the-board cuts. Read more »

We noted yesterday that the president’s speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention was promptly undercut by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. He wasn’t the only Cabinet member to contradict the president. Read more »

Military suicides are at their highest levels in more than a decade, with an average of one suicide occurring every day so far this year. The subject dominated the discussion at a joint House committee hearing with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta & Veterans Secretary Eric Shinseki. Lawmakers said the Defense & Veterans Affairs Departments are taking too long to combine their systems for tracking veterans returning to civilian life. Read more »

The U.S. military is experiencing a suicide “epidemic,” with as many as 206 service members having taken their own lives this year, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told lawmakers today. Read more »

Bureaucratic foot dragging and infighting is slowing urgently needed programs for America's veterans and wounded troops and officials have to get the problem fixed, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Wednesday. Read more »

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki acknowledged Wednesday that they have been frustrated by departmental bureaucracy in their attempts to streamline military health care for severely wounded service members. Read more »

The Veterans Affairs Department faces cuts in its administrative budget early next year if the Budget Control Act goes into effect and imposes automatic cuts on the department’s budget, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said Wednesday. Read more »