Veterans Affairs News
The Daily Signal provides coverage of how America serves its veterans, including reporting on reforms, challenges, and success stories within the VA system.
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EXCLUSIVE: Taxpayers Spent $207 Million to Pay Bureaucrats to Work for Unions in Biden’s Final Year
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Taxpayers spent $207 million to pay federal government employees not for their official government jobs but for hours worked for unions in the 2024 fiscal year, President Joe Biden’s final year in office. According to data exclusively provided first to The Daily Signal, federal employees worked 3.2 million hours for unions…Tyler O’Neil -
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VA Cuts Ties With Unions in ‘Best Interests of Veterans’
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it is severing its ties with unions, in line with President Donald Trump’s executive order ending collective bargaining with unions at some agencies. The move is intended to make it easier for VA leaders to promote high-performing employees, hold poor performers accountable, and improve benefits and services to America’s…Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell -
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Mace in the Race: South Carolina Lawmaker Seeking GOP Nod for Governor
Rep. Nancy Mace on Monday announced her candidacy in an already crowded field for the Republican nomination for governor of South Carolina. “I’m running for governor because South Carolina doesn’t need another empty suit and needs a governor who will fight for you and your values,” Mace said in her announcement speech. “South Carolina needs…Jacob Adams -
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Trump Admin to Revoke Biden’s Veterans Affairs Abortion Rule
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., is applauding the Trump administration‘s reversal of a Biden-era rule that permitted the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system to perform abortions. On Friday, the administration posted the proposed rule change in the Federal Register, which will be formally published on Monday, to prevent VA-run hospitals and other medical centers…Jacob Adams -
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With FY ’26 Looming, Congress Faces Major Decisions on How Government Is Funded
In the coming weeks, Congress could decide whether government funding is set by traditional bipartisan spending bills, or through temporary funding measures and quick-fix, surgical spending cuts. The Senate is staying in session for part of its typical August state work period, laboring through a hot Washington summer to confirm President Donald Trump’s judicial and…George Caldwell -
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Trump: No Senate Vacation Until Nominees Are Confirmed
President Donald Trump doesn’t want any senators going on summer vacation until more of his nominees are confirmed. “Hopefully the very talented [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune, fresh off our many victories over the past two weeks and, indeed, 6 months, will cancel August recess (and long weekends!), in order to get my incredible nominees…George Caldwell -
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Top Trump Administration Official Discusses Rescissions Package
Trump administration Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought testified before a Senate panel on Wednesday about defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal government programs totaling $9.4 billion in reduced spending. “A vote for rescissions is a vote to show that the United States Senate is serious about getting our fiscal…Jacob Adams -
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On Veterans Day, Reflect on Why America Is Worth Fighting For
A defining characteristic of our American republic is service and devotion. No group exemplifies these civic virtues better than America’s veterans. On Friday, this Veterans Day, it’s more important than ever to remember the sacrifice our veterans made for this country. Every Nov. 11, on what was once called Armistice Day, we celebrate Veterans Day….Jack Kilkenny-Smith -
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How This Air Force Veteran Gives Back to Fellow Veterans
An Air Force veteran is giving back to and assisting the veteran community, one tweet at a time. “We are a unique, one-of-a-kind, social media-driven, veteran nonprofit,” Gretchen Smith, founder of Code of Vets, says. “We operate purely on Twitter and a few other platforms, but primarily we are Twitter-driven.” “We have assisted roughly 5,000…Samantha Aschieris -
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Democrats Cynically Cite Veterans Benefit Increase to Urge More Spending Elsewhere
The Senate last week passed an amended version of the Honoring Our PACT Act. The bill, likely to pass the House, represents the largest expansion of benefits for veterans in decades. In a crass display of political opportunism, however, congressional Democrats are claiming that increasing spending on veterans justifies spending increases for unrelated nondefense programs….David Ditch -
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Watchdog Confirms Senator’s Unanswered Suspicions About VA Official’s Conflict of Interest
A watchdog report prompted by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, identifies a conflict of interest in the Department of Veterans Affairs office that runs the GI Bill program. The VA inspector general’s report faults Charmain Bogue, who resigned as executive director of the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Education Service amid the investigation, for working with her husband’s…Fred Lucas -
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On Veterans Day, Let Us Honor Those Who Served as Well as Those Who Stood by Them
Earlier this year, a team of America’s finest welcomed another hero into the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery. The day was sunny but cold, and the view from that Northern Virginia hillside was just as majestic as it was solemn. Many of those who gathered that day had served together and had known the…John Venable -
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‘Wounding Warriors’ Authors Highlight Flawed VA Model That Is Letting Veterans Down
Daniel Gade and Daniel Huang’s recently released book “Wounding Warriors: How Bad Policy Is Making Veterans Sicker and Poorer” can be summed in one simple sentence: Veterans respond to incentives, just like every human on this planet. The book addresses the veterans benefit system, which is managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is…Frederico Bartels -
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Former VA Secretary Robert Wilkie Reminds Us Why We Celebrate Memorial Day
On Memorial Day, America honors the more than 1 million men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. Robert Wilkie, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Trump administration, says Americans owe a great debt because without those who laid down their lives, “we wouldn’t have very much…Virginia Allen -
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Memorial Day Vow: ‘Never Again Will One Generation of Veterans Abandon Another’
There have been times when America has forgotten why we sent Americans overseas—and the duty we have to care for those who carry this nation’s freedom on their backs. After Vietnam, there were no “welcome home” parades. As a youth, I saw senior officers in America’s most decorated combat division refused permission to wear their…Robert Wilkie -
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Teacher Turns Student Questions About ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Into Annual Veterans Tribute
Harrison Kessel was in eighth grade when he interviewed World War II veteran John Eloff. Kessel was a shy boy who liked history but was intimidated at the prospect of asking a combat veteran to divulge his war stories. “I was terrified,” Kessel, now a college student, says in a video as he recounts the…Virginia Allen -
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National Native American Veterans War Memorial Honors Great American Patriots
“There were terrible moments that encompassed a lifetime, an endlessness, when terror was so strong in me, that I could feel idiocy replace reason. [Yet,] I have never left my position, nor have I shirked hazardous duty. Fear did not make a coward out of me.” When asked about his call to duty, Woodrow Keeble…Audrey Pederson -
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Why Vets’ Service Is Worthy of Reflection on Veterans Day—and the Rest of the Year
This Veterans Day, we have great reason to thank our many veterans and reflect on the immeasurable value of their service. Celebrated every year on Nov. 11, what we now know as Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day, which honors the day in 1918 when a ceasefire was called, leading to the end World…Janae Diaz -
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Trump Initiative Aims to Reduce High Suicide Rate Among Veterans
After fighting alongside his fellow Marines in the war in Iraq, Chad Hiser survived a battle that killed 18 other troops. Just three days days later, a friendly-fire incident injured others. But 15 years ago, Hiser almost didn’t survive his own battle that came after he was honorably discharged. “I returned home feeling guilty for…Fred Lucas -
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Cabinet Secretaries Cite Better Health Care for Veterans, Elderly
Trump administration officials touted improved health care services for the elderly and military veterans Saturday during a conference of conservative activists near Washington. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie focused on health care changes implemented by the Department of Veterans Affairs last summer as part of the MISSION Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law….Allison Schuster