Pentagon and Congress

Zelenskyy warns Congress, DoD that Kyiv will lose without aid

Zelenskyy visited Washington hoping to secure more and better US aid for Ukraine. But many of his pleas fell on deaf ears as Republican opposition grows.

9 hours ago

House GOP plans to pass defense budget fail again as shutdown looms

The $826-billion GOP bill to fund the Defense Department faces opposition from all House Democrats and a handful of key Republican lawmakers.

15 hours ago

Veterans

Total of overdue VA disability claims balloons to almost 300,000

The number of overdue cases hasn't been that high since 2014.

Three top military leaders confirmed after Senate deal

The Senate is expected to fill three vacancies on the Joint Chiefs of Staff — including the chairman post — after a surprise breakthrough Wednesday.

35 hours ago

Pentagon to revisit ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ discharges

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' repealed 12 years ago today, forced thousands of LGBTQ+ troops to leave the military under less than honorable circumstances.

2 days ago

President Joe Biden addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.

Biden urges world leaders at the UN to stand up to Russia

President Joe Biden has made his case before the U.N. General Assembly that the world must remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression.

2 days ago

How contractors are bracing for a federal government shutdown

Contractors, like federal agencies, are reading the handwriting on the wall and are bracing for a shutdown.

2 days ago

Will Dems change Senate rules to push ahead military nominations?

Efforts to force Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville to end confirmation blockade have yet to yield results.

3 days ago

Capitol Hill dysfunction threatens key defense initiatives

Congress' dysfunction is taking its toll on national security as a government shutdown looms and hundreds of officers can't take their posts.

3 days ago

Injured women vets lonelier, more stressed than male peers: report

The findings from Wounded Warrior Project point to gaps in resources for women after leaving the ranks.

3 days ago

VA reaches annual medical staff hiring goal one month early

Department leaders brought in more than 54,000 new employees in 11 months, pushing worker levels to their highest mark ever.

3 days ago

VA urging veterans, staff to get latest COVID-19 vaccine booster

Virus infection cases within the VA health care system are up more than 200% in the last two months.

3 days ago

Republican lawmakers will try again this week to pass a defense budget

Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of Sept. 18, 2023.

4 days ago

House Republicans demand data on VA abortion procedures

Lawmakers want more information on how many procedures have been performed and how they were justified.

6 days ago

Cover-up of Coast Guard sex abuse cases prompts Senate inquiry

More than 40 leaders may have escaped punishment for misconduct after senior officials ignored reports of problems.

7 days ago

Ukraine's Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak, left, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, right, listen as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023.

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy expected to visit Washington next week

His visit comes as Congress is debating providing as much as $24 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion.

7 days ago

In this photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, speaks at the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 8, 2023.

Surveillance flights, not counterterrorism ops, restarted in Niger

The Pentagon says it has not restarted counterterrorism operations in Niger, a day after Air Force Gen. James Hecker said those flights had resumed.

7 days ago

VA won’t restart health records overhaul until next summer, if at all

Multiple House lawmakers expressed doubt that the expensive vets records project can be saved.

8 days ago

U.S. Navy Adm. Chris Grady, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, listens to a question Sept. 13, 2023, at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

At Air Force conference, officials call out effect of Tuberville holds

“This is a situation that one senator has created for us,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in Maryland.

8 days ago

Pentagon & Congress

The latest military news from the Pentagon and Congress.

Zelenskyy visited Washington hoping to secure more and better US aid for Ukraine. But many of his pleas fell on deaf ears as Republican opposition grows.

The $826-billion GOP bill to fund the Defense Department faces opposition from all House Democrats and a handful of key Republican lawmakers.

The number of overdue cases hasn't been that high since 2014.

The Senate is expected to fill three vacancies on the Joint Chiefs of Staff — including the chairman post — after a surprise breakthrough Wednesday.

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' repealed 12 years ago today, forced thousands of LGBTQ+ troops to leave the military under less than honorable circumstances.

President Joe Biden has made his case before the U.N. General Assembly that the world must remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Contractors, like federal agencies, are reading the handwriting on the wall and are bracing for a shutdown.

Efforts to force Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville to end confirmation blockade have yet to yield results.

Congress' dysfunction is taking its toll on national security as a government shutdown looms and hundreds of officers can't take their posts.

The findings from Wounded Warrior Project point to gaps in resources for women after leaving the ranks.

Department leaders brought in more than 54,000 new employees in 11 months, pushing worker levels to their highest mark ever.

Virus infection cases within the VA health care system are up more than 200% in the last two months.

Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of Sept. 18, 2023.

Lawmakers want more information on how many procedures have been performed and how they were justified.

More than 40 leaders may have escaped punishment for misconduct after senior officials ignored reports of problems.

His visit comes as Congress is debating providing as much as $24 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion.

The Pentagon says it has not restarted counterterrorism operations in Niger, a day after Air Force Gen. James Hecker said those flights had resumed.

Multiple House lawmakers expressed doubt that the expensive vets records project can be saved.

“This is a situation that one senator has created for us,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in Maryland.