Department of Justice officials said Brian K. Ditch, 44, faces multiple counts of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of government property. Related, he has also been charged with illegal possession of firearms after investigators looking for his uncle found weapons in the home, in violation of his parole.

Court documents said his uncle, Thomas Clubb, was a disabled veteran suffering from dementia and quadriplegia. Ditch, 44, became Clubb’s primary caregiver in 2008.

But investigators charged that Ditch kept his uncle locked in a garage and without proper care for years while stealing his veterans benefits checks, which totaled $9,559 a month. In addition, federal records showed Clubb was sent more than $235,000 in Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and Retirement Insurance benefits over the last 17 years.

“Instead of properly caring for his uncle, Ditch trapped him in the garage for over 24 hours at a time, forcing his uncle to sit in his own urine and feces without the ability to eat or drink,” Justice officials said in their indictment release.

Investigators charged that after Clubb died in 2019, Ditch continued to pretend he was alive to keep the federal benefits checks from being halted. They said he used the money to buy exotic reptiles and fund “lavish vacations” for himself.

When local police searched Ditch’s home in March, they reported finding Clubb’s partially frozen body in a trash can. Family members told investigators that Ditch claimed his uncle was being cared for by a nursing home, but would not provide details where.

In a statement, Special Agent in Charge Gregory Billingsley with the VA Inspector General’s Office said the arrest came as the result of cooperation between multiple agencies and law enforcement officials.

“VA’s programs and services are established to justly compensate deserving veterans, and the VA Inspector General will bring to justice those who would defraud these programs,” he said.

Prior to this investigation, Ditch was previously convicted for burglary and battery charges. He is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Friday.

The Veterans Legacy Memorial was launched in 2019 and creates websites recognizing the lives of deceased veterans, allowing relatives to update the online memorials with details for their service, post-military work and family history.

The scope of the project now includes more than 10 million names and has roughly doubled in the last two years, with the addition of millions of veterans buried in private cemeteries worldwide to existing lists of individuals interred at VA and military sites.

Trump proclaims Thursday as day for US to celebrate victory in WWII

The expansion announced this week includes names from 26 overseas cemeteries and memorials administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

ABMC acting Secretary Robert Dalessandro said in a statement that the Veterans Legacy Project update “adds new resources to honor our nation’s veterans from all wars and brings their stories to those who aren’t able to visit our sites overseas.”

President Donald Trump this week issued a proclamation recognizing May 8 as the 80th anniversary of the end of European hostilities in that conflict.

In addition to the approximately 93,000 WWII veterans added to the veterans project, about 94,000 other names added to the list are of Americans missing in action overseas or buried at sea. Those individuals are honored in a series of overseas memorials overseen by the monuments commission.

“The brave Americans resting in ABMC cemeteries and whose names are inscribed on memorials around the world sacrificed their lives to liberate allied countries and to protect our nation’s interests,” said acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald Walters in a statement. “It’s our honor to preserve their legacies.”

Officials in recent months have also updated the legacy project to allow veterans to provide details of their life and service before they pass away. Information on the “Your Story, Your Legacy” effort is available on the project’s website.

Mason was one of four inspector general nominations submitted by the White House this week. All of those posts — and about a dozen more — have been vacant since late January, when Trump dismissed the independent investigators from their roles without explanation.

Mike Missal, who had served in the VA Inspector General role since April 2016, has joined seven other former officials in a lawsuit challenging those firings. That case is still unresolved.

Mason was part of the Board of Veterans Appeals from 2017 to 2022, becoming the first woman ever to serve as chair of the judicial panel. The board provides a second chance for veterans seeking disability benefits to challenge Department of Veterans Affairs decisions.

She is the wife and daughter of military veterans and has been a public advocate for military spouse employment opportunities in the past.

VA, DOD oversight questioned after Trump inspector general firings

Earlier this year, Trump appointed Mason as a senior advisor to the VA secretary. Her shift from administration insider to department watchdog elicited concerns about her ability to serve as an independent voice on department operations and decisions.

“A Trump political acolyte like Cheryl Mason is exactly the wrong choice to be the VA Inspector General, a role requiring nonpartisan, independent oversight,” Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement responding to Tuesday’s nomination.

“Veterans deserve an inspector general who will conduct investigations free of interference and collusion from [VA Secretary Doug] Collins and the Trump administration. Otherwise, we will be putting veterans at even greater risk of corruption and abuse of power.”

Critics noted that Mason has been involved in department efforts to trim the size of the VA workforce, which has prompted objections from Democratic lawmakers and veterans advocates.

Hours before the nomination, in testimony before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Collins hinted that Trump would be moving soon to fill the vacant watchdog post.

“From our perspective, we welcome the oversight to make sure that we’re meeting the metrics that we need to do to take care of veterans,” he said.

Committee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said filling the post is “a high priority” for the panel. No timeline has been announced for a confirmation hearing for Mason.

In testimony before a Senate oversight committee, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins portrayed his department as a bureaucracy in severe disarray when he took over three months ago. But he insisted reforms from the new administration since then have set operations on the right track.

“Our shared goal needs to be making things better for veterans rather than protecting the department’s broken bureaucracy,” he told members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “To simply say that where we came in was okay, everyone knows that was just simply not true.”

In contrast, Senate Democrats accused President Donald Trump’s administration of working to dismantle the department rather than improve it, accusing Collins of exaggerating and fabricating problems to justify dramatic changes in coming months.

“You cannot slash and trash the VA without eliminating essential positions which provide access and availability of health care,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ranking member of the committee. “It simply cannot be done. You may give us a lot of verbiage here, but you’re not giving us facts.”

‘There’s a war on vets’: Dems launch plans to counter Trump’s VA moves

Collins’ appearance on Capitol Hill was his first since his confirmation in February. It came amid increased criticism from veterans advocates and federal unions over Collins’ public plans to trim as many as 80,000 staffers from the 480,000-plus department workforce.

The hearing quickly became a contentious affair, with several shouting matches between Collins and Democratic critics of his policies.

Collins has said the staff cuts are needed to cut down on the “bloated” VA bureaucracy. Department staffing levels grew roughly 20% from the start of fiscal 2019 to the end of fiscal 2024, but Collins asserted problems like medical wait times and benefits backlogs have grown worse over that timeframe.

“Something has to change, and it’s up to us to make that change,” he said. “Under President Trump, we are working to solve problems that have persisted at VA for decades.”

But Democratic lawmakers disputed several of those points. Blumenthal noted that claims backlogs increased after a massive expansion of veterans benefits in 2022, and that wait times increased after significant changes to operations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other lawmakers urged Collins to back away from planned staff dismissals without a clear idea of how those reductions will affect programs.

On Tuesday, Collins said he sees the 15% workforce reduction as a goal — “it could be more, it could be less” — but bristled at suggestions that he would make any moves that could harm veterans care.

He insisted that no physicians or front-line workers have been fired so far and vowed that critical workers won’t be dismissed later.

Democratic lawmakers countered that losing schedulers, support staff and other key personnel will harm veterans seeking care.

“You’re claiming that these 80,000 are all [diversity employees] and interior designers,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. “There’s no way that all of them are in those job fields.”

They characterized VA as an agency in need of improvement, not a complete overhaul. President Joe Biden’s administration also pushed that message late last year, noting an approval rating of more than 80% for veterans using the system.

But Republican lawmakers echoed Collins’ view of a Veterans Affairs department in desperate need of overhaul.

“The VA is not working for veterans,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. “And if we just say, ‘Everything has to say the same and you just have to add more money and more people,’ you’re looking at this the wrong way.”

The conflict over the state of VA — and the level of changes it needs to make to prepare for the future — is expected to be on full display as lawmakers debate the department’s fiscal 2026 budget in coming months.

The White House has already proposed a 4% increase in veterans programmatic funding for next fiscal year, even with the proposed staff and contract cuts on the horizon.

But Anthony Tata — who is likely to be confirmed to the senior military post despite the concerns — offered a partial apology for past attacks on Democratic lawmakers during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and promised to focus on issues like recruiting and retention in his next role.

“I regret making those comments,” Tata said. “I can guarantee you that if confirmed, I will be an apolitical leader that is trying to take care of the men and women in uniform, their families and the Defense Department’s civilians.”

Hegseth directs 20% cut to top military leadership positions

Tata, 65, is a retired Army brigadier general who previously served as acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy during Trump’s first administration.

Earlier this year, the president nominated him to serve as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, overseeing a host of issues regarding force readiness, quality of life programs and military pay.

In 2020, Tata was forced to withdraw his nomination for the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy post because of inflammatory comments he made on social media and television shows.

They included labeling former President Barack Obama as a “terrorist leader” and a secret Muslim believer, as well as numerous anti-Islamic comments. He also suggested that Democratic lawmakers and federal workers were engaging in conspiracies to undermine and kill Trump, and stated that former CIA Director John Brennan deserved to be executed.

Democrats on the committee expressed surprise that Tata was renominated by Trump this year, given those past controversies.

“I respect and appreciate your military service, but your record of public statements and behavior toward individuals with whom you disagree politically is disqualifying for a position of this significance,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., ranking member of the committee.

“If confirmed, you would need to serve all members of the Department of Defense and their families, not just those whom you agree with politically. Your public record and past performance at the Pentagon do not inspire confidence in this regard.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., echoed those same concerns.

“You seem to think that if a general or admiral was promoted during a Democratic administration, that person should be automatically fired,” she said. “That’s just a political purge.”

But Republicans on the committee characterized Tata’s past comments as little more than typically political rhetoric, accusing Democrats of engaging in similar hyperbole in the past.

They praised Tata as the right person for the leadership post at a time when the Trump administration is pushing major reforms throughout the military bureaucracy.

Tata said if confirmed, a primary focus will be on recruiting and retention within the ranks. He said part of the solution will be new programs to expose high school students to the idea of serving in the military, appealing to both the job benefits and patriotic motivations.

He also promised his office will align personnel policies “with national security imperatives on increasing lethality and the warrior ethos.”

A committee vote on Tata’s nomination is expected later this month. Republicans’ majority in the Senate means that he can be confirmed into the role without any Democratic support.

Several Democratic committee members have vowed to delay or complicate the Trump administration’s senior Pentagon nominations over concerns about department staff cuts and programming reassignments, but they likely will not be able to halt the confirmations without support from their GOP colleagues.

They also promised ongoing improvements to”increase automation that will expedite survivors’ claims” in coming months as part of the effort.

In an open message to the veterans community, VA Secretary Doug Collins said the moves are designed to simplify the process and improve families’ interactions with the department.

“The last thing survivors need in their time of grief is frustrating red tape and bureaucracy,” he said in a statement. “That’s why we are creating a better system to more quickly and effectively provide survivors the services, support and compassion they’ve earned.”

White House budget plan gives 4% boost for VA amid other agency cuts

The Office of Survivors Assistance was established in 2008 as a way to consolidate benefits for deceased veterans under a single agency. The office provides information on funeral resources, bereavement counseling and estate planning, as well as clarification on which veterans benefits continue after an individual’s death.

VA officials plan to move the office from the Veterans Benefits Administration to reporting directly to the VA secretary, with five full-time staffers advising department leadership on survivors benefits issues.

Along with the change, leadership announced plans to stand up a new “white-glove” survivor outreach team in the the Philadelphia VA Regional Benefit Office to “guide and assist eligible survivors throughout every step of the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation claims process, with the goal of getting to ‘yes’ on claims decisions.”

Survivors can be eligible for nearly $2,000 in monthly payouts from VA depending on their health and their veterans’ service-connected disabilities before death. But the calculations for the benefit can be overly complicated, with additions and subtractions for length of marriage, length of service and final military ranks.

That new team is scheduled to start work later this month, after personnel complete specialized training on survivor benefits issues.

Department officials said that they currently process more than 1,000 DIC payments or adjustments a day through automated systems. But they said they hope to expand that number in coming months, pending a review of the department’s claims systems.

Collins and other senior leaders have promised a host of cost-savings and department improvements through a series of reforms, many aimed at trimming personnel and bureaucracy within the department.

The efforts so far have generally earned praise from Republicans but concern from Democrats, who worry cutback will lead to slower response times and delays in services.

In a statement Monday, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., praised the announcement.

“We have to keep pushing VA forward to meet the needs of veterans and their families,” he said. “Today’s action by Secretary Collins is in lockstep with that mission.”

Tata was originally nominated for the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness role in 2020 but withdrew his name from consideration after numerous inflammatory comments became public.

Among them were Tata’s labeling of former President Barack Obama as a “terrorist leader” and a secret Muslim believer. He also posted anti-Islamic comments on social media, drawing condemnation from military leaders.

Trump later appointed Tata as Pentagon policy chief, getting around the Senate confirmation process. Upon his return to the Oval Office, Trump opted to nominate Tata again for the Pentagon personnel leadership role, a decision that will bring the fight again before the politically divided Senate Armed Services Committee.

Monday, May 5

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The $1.7 trillion “skinny budget” plan for next fiscal year, released by the White House on Friday, provides only broad spending outlines for federal departments and is expected to be followed by more detailed guidance in coming weeks.

White House officials said the fiscal plan “holds the line on total spending while providing unprecedented increases for defense and border security” while also reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy.

While major discretionary funding cuts are planned for agencies like the Department of Education (down 15%) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (down 44%), the White House plan calls for a $5.4 billion boost in VA program spending.

Trump plans to change Veterans Day into ‘Victory Day for World War I’

According to documents released by the Office of Budget and Management, about $2 billion of that increase would go toward accelerating the department’s electronic health records overhaul, a project that has been stalled for three years.

VA Secretary Doug Collins earlier this year announced plans to accelerate the rollout of the records system to 13 news sites in 2026, despite numerous cost overruns and system glitches.

Another $3.3 billion would be set aside for medical care improvements, although the specifics of those efforts have yet to be released.

Budget officials said the money would go toward ensuring that “the nation provides the world-class healthcare to America’s veterans that they deserve” and that “veterans who qualify for access to care with local community providers would be empowered to make the choice to see them.”

Expanding community care options — opportunities for veterans to seek private-sector care at taxpayers expense — was a major campaign promise for Trump. Collins has reiterated that focus in recent public interviews.

Planning documents also call for a $1.1 billion increase for programs aimed at ending veterans’ homelessness. Officials said the money would be earmarked for “rental assistance and augmenting VA’s existing case management.”

The spending plan estimates almost $500 million in savings from cuts to legacy information technology systems within the department, and another $37 million from diversity program cuts and planned staff reductions.

Officials also plan to shift about $50 billion in previously mandatory funding — set aside originally to pay for expenses related to toxic exposure injuries — into the discretionary budget next year.

Republican lawmakers have argued the move will make the funding more flexible and improve oversight into its use. Democratic lawmakers have countered that the move endangers long-term assurances that money will be available to care for those wounds of war.

The White House did not release its estimate for mandatory VA spending in fiscal 2026, which includes money for disability benefits, education payouts and certain medical expenses.

Veterans Affairs planners have seen regular budget increases annually for more than 20 years, even amid periodic congressional and White House efforts to reduce federal spending.

In fiscal 2001, the VA budget — both mandatory and discretionary — totaled just $45 billion. In 2011, it was about $125 billion. For the current fiscal year, the total tops $350 billion.

“We won both wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything,” Trump wrote in the late night statement. “That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”

The move to rename Veterans Day — established to coincide with the end date of World War I — would overwrite 87 years of precedent in recognizing Nov. 11 as a national holiday celebrating all veterans.

During his last term in office, Trump issued a national proclamation for Veterans Day honoring the celebration as a chance for the country to “pause to pay tribute to all who have proudly worn our nation’s uniform.” He did not make any mention of the World War I origins of the date.

White House defends Hegseth amid new Signal accusation, staff overhaul

White House officials did not respond to clarification on whether Trump’s Victory Day name would replace or run alongside Veterans Day celebrations.

Trump also did not clarify if he expects May 8 will also become a federal holiday like Veterans Day, although a decision on that designation would fall to Congress.

In his post, Trump noted that many countries commemorate the end of World War II on May 8 “but we did more than any other country, by far, in producing a victorious result.”

May 8, 1945, was the end of major fighting in the European arena of World War II, but fighting in the Pacific for U.S. and allied troops continued for nearly four more months, until Sept. 2 of that year.

More than 400,000 U.S. troops were killed in fighting in World War II, according to the National World War II museum.

However, House Democrats warned that maintaining that better standard of living may hinge on how many civilian defense employees end up out of work in the coming months due to White House efforts to trim the federal workforce.

“This administration’s assault on our federal civil service threatens the essential support programs for military families and the partnership between military and civilian personnel across our military,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., during the House Armed Services Committee’s military personnel hearing on quality-of-life issues Wednesday.

Last year, as part of the annual defense authorization bill, House and Senate lawmakers approved a host of military quality-of-life initiatives designed to help with recruiting, retention and readiness in the ranks.

Among them were a 10% targeted pay boost for junior enlisted personnel, improvements to child care operations and hiring policies and expanded access to military medical appointments for families.

Troops need better health care access, top enlisted tell lawmakers

Personnel officials testifying at the committee hearing said they have received positive feedback from troops about the changes already.

“I think the quality-of-life focus for the last year has been phenomenal,” Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel, told lawmakers.

“Two years ago, the narrative out in the press was that if you come into the services, you’ve got terrible living conditions, terrible schools for your children and everything. I think we’ve turned the corner on a lot of that discussion.”

Vice Adm. Richard Cheeseman Jr., deputy chief of naval operations for personnel, noted the targeted pay raise in particular has drawn attention.

“I’ve heard from plenty of sailors that they enjoy the extra money,” he said.

But the military leaders also emphasized that they see continued areas for additional improvements. At the top of each service’s list were improvements to barracks and dorms, with better options and maintenance for troops’ living quarters.

“We can’t put enough new money into barracks,” said Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte, Marine Corps deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs.

Katharine Kelley, deputy chief of space operations for human capital, said despite recent improvements in military child care, Space Force personnel still have an urgent need for overnight care options, given the service’s unique missions.

And all of the service officials promised plans to continue building up family services and base support options for troop to ensure recent quality-of-life advances continue.

But Democratic lawmakers noted operating those services will likely require continued hiring of civilian support personnel, which may not happen under workforce cuts planned by the White House.

“Civilian workers maintain an important role for us, and for our readiness,” said Lt. Gen. Brian Eifler, Army deputy chief of staff. “We are doing some reorganization because of [planned reductions]. That’s something we’re looking closely at to make sure we don’t have a gap in our coverage as far as the mission is concerned.”

About 16,000 Army civilian employees, 12,000 Air Force civilian workers and 1,600 Marine Corps civilian staff have agreed to deferred resignation plans, officials said. Navy and Space Force officials expect to lose about 10% of their civilian staff through those same plans.

Houlahan and other Democrats expressed concerns that those cuts could have a severe impact on child care staffing, medical offices and family support programs, even though some of those areas have been exempted from a department-wide hiring freeze.

“We are literally, in some cases, firing or removing people, and then we’re figuring out what to do about it,” Houlahan said. “It’s just astounding.”

Service officials said they have not yet seen negative impacts from the planned and potential civilian workforce cutbacks, but will be monitoring the issue closely in coming months.

“We’re looking at the impacts of what losing these individuals is and then restructuring as appropriate to handle that challenge,” Borgschulte said.

Members of the House Education and Workforce Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to advance their section of the massive congressional reconciliation bill, which includes $330 billion in cuts to education spending over the next decade.

Panel Democrats objected to multiple portions of the bill and the GOP‘s overall approach to federal programming cuts.

But language in the bill repealing the “90/10 loophole” regarding GI Bill benefits drew particular concern from veterans advocates, who said the move represents an attack on oversight and accountability for post-military education benefits.

Feds close 90/10 loophole involving veterans education benefits

“The closing of this loophole was widely celebrated as a bipartisan success in 2021,” said Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., a panel member and the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, during debate on the reconciliation measure Tuesday.

“Congress deemed that holding predatory for-profits accountable was necessary to safeguard federal education benefits and ultimately protect both taxpayers and students.”

By law, colleges and universities must have at least 10% of their revenues derived from non-federal sources in order to qualify for federal benefits. The idea behind the regulation is to ensure that for-profit institutions aren’t funded solely by federal monies, but instead also include significant investment by students interested in furthering their education.

But for years, GI Bill benefits and Defense Department Tuition Assistance programs were not counted as federal dollars for the 90/10 calculation, despite being taxpayer-funded benefits. As a result, schools could target veterans or troops receiving federal education payouts to boost their government funding well beyond the 90% cap.

Four years ago, as part of an emergency funding bill, lawmakers closed that loophole, reclassifying the GI Bill money and other military education programs as federal funding in the 90/10 calculations. The new rule has been in place for about three years.

But the Republican-backed reconciliation bill would revert to the pre-2021 rules. GOP committee members argued the change was needed to reduce regulations and promote more affordable options for student veterans.

“Rather than using the regulatory hammer to pick winners and losers, we should encourage all colleges to focus on student success,” said Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah.

Democrats disagreed. Advocates for years have argued that the loophole incentivized schools to recruit veterans to plus-up the amount of steady, government dollars they could collect, even in cases where the programs did not provide long-term benefits to the students.

“Unscrupulous institutions were using this to exploit student veterans,” said Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore. “Now Republicans want to eliminate the rule altogether, removing a vital consumer protection and giving for-profit colleges free rein to continue to prey on students.”

VA pays out more than $8 billion in education payments annually.

A Democratic amendment to strip the repeal language from the reconciliation measure failed along party lines.

The provision could still be removed by House leadership before a full chamber vote, or by Senate lawmakers before final passage of the budgetary measure. Veterans groups who have been advocating on the issue for years promised to highlight it in coming weeks.

“The House of Representatives should be ashamed that they’re even entertaining the idea of reinstating this costly and wrongheaded policy that would threaten the future of veterans’ education,” Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America CEO Allison Jaslow said in a statement.

Republican leaders have said they hope to pass a final reconciliation bill package by mid-June.

“If any criminal or civil violations occurred, those responsible must be held accountable,” House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., wrote in a letter to Bondi Tuesday. He asked for her office to look into “the submission of false statements to Congress, obstruction of oversight, fraud, or misappropriation of federal funds.”

Top Democratic leaders decried the move as “a desperate political stunt” by Republican leaders attempting to distract from the current administration’s planned cuts to VA staff and services.

“I am appalled by his recommendation and blatant weaponization of the judicial system,” said Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., ranking member of Bost’s committee. “It is unprecedented, and the American people — especially our veterans — deserve better than sham investigations and political theater becoming the new normal.”

Watchdog blasts VA leaders for exaggerating budget shortfall last year

The conflict dates back to last summer, when then-VA Secretary Denis McDonough and other senior department leaders told lawmakers that funding for benefits and medical care could run out in October because of increased programmatic usage earlier in 2024.

Congress approved $3 billion in emergency funding in September amid pressure from veterans groups and the White House, staving off any potential fiscal shortfall. But in late October, VA officials acknowledged their budget estimates were flawed, and that more than $5 billion in funding was available for the start of the new fiscal year.

At the time, McDonough and other VA leaders said the moves were made “out of an abundance of caution” and warned that any shortfall could have disrupted veterans’ payouts.

But Bost and other Republicans disputed that assertion, and accused White House officials of manufacturing panic about veterans benefits just weeks ahead of the November presidential election.

In his letter to the attorney general’s office, Bost said that VA leaders knew of their budgetary errors even before the emergency congressional vote, but did not share that information until after the extra money was approved.

“This delayed disclosure and the omission of available resources in key budget documents call into question the accuracy and integrity of [the department’s] budget justification process,” he wrote.

“The suggestion that senior VA officials submitted materially inaccurate funding requests and failed to disclose critical budget information … warrant immediate and independent review by your office. These failures undermined the appropriations process, misled lawmakers, and - most importantly - put the benefits and services America’s veterans rely on at risk.”

Bost specifically singled out McDonough, former Under Secretary for Benefits Josh Jacobs and former Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal for potential charges.

An inspector general review of the budget issues released last month found significant problems with VA’s budgetary projections and accounting practices, but did not recommend criminal or civil actions against former department leaders.

Democratic leaders have accused President Donald Trump of abusing his executive power to attack and harass political opponents. Takano called Bost’s investigation request an extension of those same abusive practices.

“Former Secretary McDonough and his team led VA through one of its most successful eras in history,” he said in a statement. “They deserve to be honored — not smeared by partisan attacks.”

In addition to whatever actions the attorney general’s office pursues, Bost promised continued investigation from his committee into the issue.

Relationships between Republicans and Democrats on the committee — which typically has fewer partisan fights than other congressional panels — have grown increasingly tense over the last few years, with each side accusing the other of sowing division and panic among veterans.

The poll — from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Columbia University’s Center for Veteran Transition and Integration — also found more than half of respondents said they were less confident in America’s long-term national security since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

More than 1,400 veterans were surveyed in the report, the vast majority of whom (89%) served in Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria during their time in the ranks. More than half described themselves as politically independent, with the remainder split almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats.

But study authors found the negative responses in the survey cut across political lines.

About 86% of veterans polled said that individuals involved in the leak of sensitive military airstrike information on the messaging platform Signal should be “held accountable” for those mistakes. That included 76% of veterans who identified as Republicans.

The Pentagon’s inspector general office is already investigating Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal ahead of March airstrikes in Yemen against Houthi targets. In unsecured messages, Hegseth shared details of the timing of the attack and weapons to be used with a number of administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and National Security Advisor Mike Walz.

Also copied on those messages was a senior editor from The Atlantic, who later publicly shared excerpts of the controversial chats.

Security experts and White House officials have sparred since then over whether the unsecure sharing of information constitutes criminal acts. Trump has stood by Hegseth and other officials, even as other potential information security violations have emerged.

The latest survey also found that 81% of veterans are concerned that plans for federal cuts to government services could impact veterans benefits and health care, despite promises from Veterans Affairs officials that support programs will be preserved.

Related, 42% of veterans in the survey said they are less likely to recommend military service to a friend or family member than they were a year ago. Almost half (48%) said they would discourage potential recruits from joining.

IAVA officials said the survey should not be extrapolated to represent the views of all American veterans, since the younger generations of former military members share distinct characteristics from the previous ones.

Past work by the group has shown veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan era are more diverse — both in terms of race and gender — than older generations of veterans, and are less likely to identify with major political parties.

They are also more likely to currently be in the workforce than their older peers. About one in five veterans surveyed said they know someone who is unemployed due to recent federal civilian job cuts.

The full survey is available on the IAVA web site.

The reconciliation package — the broad framework of which has already been adopted by the Republican-led House and Senate — is expected to be up for chamber votes sometime next month. Committee work on individual sections of the spending plan are scheduled for the next two weeks, following lawmakers’ return from a two-week spring recess.

While many agencies are expected to see sharp spending decreases under the plan, Republican lawmakers have backed funding increases for military programs.

House Armed Services leaders have tentatively scheduled a vote for their portion of the legislation for Tuesday. Officials have said they hope to phase in that money over the next five years, to counter current threats and boost White House defense priorities.

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“With the diminished size of the [active-duty] force and increasing demands on the National Guard and reserves, service members separated due to obesity and its comorbidities are vital personnel the Armed Forces cannot afford to lose,” researchers wrote in the report.

The study, which calls for new policies to ensure those troops’ health, comes one day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared during a speech at the Army War College that all military personnel “need to be fit, not fat,” echoing his past demands for more rigorous personnel standards.

The Defense Department’s latest data on obesity in the reserve components dates back to 2018, when 65% of personnel were classified as overweight or obese. ASP researchers now estimate that figure is closer to 68%.

Past studies have shown the highest rates of weight problems are among Army National Guard members, with about 21% of personnel meeting the definition for obesity.

“These service members experience heightened risk for a wide variety of serious health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and osteoarthritis, which may lead to life-threatening health events such as stroke and heart failure,” the report states.

Past studies from ASP have shown roughly the same level of obesity among members of the active-duty force. But officials noted that dealing with the problem for the different components will require different approaches.

“Although the reserve component’s obesity-related challenges are similar to those in the active component, commanders and policymakers will not be able to combat these trends with a uniform approach,” researchers wrote.

“As most National Guard and reserve personnel serve part-time, there are a number of unique logistical and lifestyle challenges to consider when crafting policy to prevent and treat obesity in the reserve component.”

To address the problem, ASP leaders recommended further research and tracking of obesity rates in the reserve forces, as well as providing some level of medical insurance to all reserve troops to help address the health issues.

They also noted that improvements in the military’s electronic health records should assist in monitoring those weight issues among reservists, even if they don’t report to command as frequently as their active-duty peers.

Hegseth and other defense leaders are conducting a review of military enlistment and retention standards to ensure force readiness, although that work has focused more on gender equity in requirements than general weight issues.

The full report is available on the American Security Project’s website.

The move, which follows a government-wide mandate for investigations into discriminatory practices against Christian beliefs, drew immediate condemnation from Democratic lawmakers for showing favoritism towards a single religion.

“While religious discrimination must be forbidden and fought, this internal VA memo lacks any factual basis or rationale,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “It raises the specter of dividing the veteran community and favoring some religions over others.”

In a department-wide memo distributed Monday, VA Secretary Doug Collins said that a new department task force will “review all instances of anti-Christian bias” throughout VA operations. That includes “adverse responses to requests for religious exemption” and “any observations of mistreatment for not participating in events or activities inconsistent with Christian views.”

LGBTQ Pride flags banned at VA facilities under new policy

In the past, some employees have claimed discrimination for being required to provide treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals or birth control medication to patients, claiming religious objections. Advocates have countered that veterans should not have their medical options curtailed because of individuals’ personal beliefs.

Collins memo also asks employees to report “any mistreatment or reprimand issued in response to displays of Christian imagery or symbols.”

In February, Collins ordered that displays of flags not in keeping with VA messaging — including LGBTQ+ Pride flags and other advocacy banners — be removed from department workspaces and common areas. It is not clear if flags with Christian imagery will now be exempted from that policy.

In addition to his VA leadership role, Collins serves as an Air Force Reserve Chaplain and is a practicing Southern Baptist.

President Donald Trump in February ordered VA and 15 other agencies to establish the anti-Christian-bias task forces to “end the anti-Christian weaponization of government.” He claimed that past administrations’ support for abortion rights and diversity efforts amounted to an attack on Christian beliefs.

Democratic lawmakers have disputed that. Blumenthal said that the new task force undermines efforts to ensure all veterans receive care and respect.

“The First Amendment ensures that all religions and faiths are treated equally, with full freedom of worship,” he said.

Officials from the advocacy group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State have called Trump’s anti-Christian task force “a Christian nationalist crusade” and accused the administration of using religious freedom misinformation “to justify bigotry and discrimination.”

The top VA executive is scheduled to testify before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee on May 7 as part of the chamber’s preparation for the department’s fiscal 2026 request. Similar appearances from other Cabinet officials are expected throughout the month.

In a statement, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jerry Moran said that Collins “will testify before the committee to lay out the department’s plans for improving the VA over the next four years and providing quality and timely care and benefits to our nation’s heroes and their families.”

“This will be an opportunity for members of the committee to ask questions about recent and planned changes underway at VA and for our committee to receive an overview of the secretary’s goals and priorities three months after his bipartisan confirmation,” he added.

Nurses rally outside VA hospitals to highlight staff cuts, vacancies

Since that bipartisan confirmation vote in February, several Democratic senators have publicly disavowed their support for Collins and demanded he return to Capitol Hill to answer for rumored and promised changes at VA.

Those plans include tens of thousands of potential jobs cuts in coming months, as well as significantly restructuring support contracts across the department.

In addition, Collins’ announcements that VA will end nearly all support services for transgender veterans and eliminate diversity and inclusion programs across the workforce have drawn anger and ire from Democrats.

For his part, Collins has struck back on social media, accusing critics of fear-mongering and maintaining the status quo in the face of mounting problems with the VA bureaucracy.

Traditionally, the VA secretary makes appearances before each chamber’s appropriations and oversight committees each spring as lawmakers negotiate the annual federal spending plan. Collins was scheduled to appear before the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month, but lawmakers postponed that event because of other legislative work.

“What happens if you cut housekeeping staff, and it falls to us to get rooms cleaned?” she asked. “If dietary staff is cut, will nurses have to take on the responsibility to deliver meal trays? Who is going to handle scheduling to make sure a bed is available?

“All of those things affect our time and our ability to care for our veterans.”

Johnson, a seven-year employee of VA, was one of dozens of department nurses rallying outside the California hospital Wednesday to protest an array of moves by President Donald Trump’s administration that they say unnecessarily threatens the health of veterans and federal workers.

House vets chairman backs VA staffing cuts but promises oversight

The event, planned by the National Nurses Organizing Committee and National Nurses United, or NNU, followed similar protests in New York, Chicago, North Carolina and other sites in recent weeks. More are scheduled through the end of the month.

“We’re not going to let them just bully the workers,” said Irma Westmoreland, an official at NNU and a VA nurse working in Georgia for the last 34 years. “We’re not going to let them do things that are illegal. We’re not going to let them just fire people for no reason.”

The rallies were originally conceived to protest looming staffing cuts across the department. VA Secretary Doug Collins has proposed trimming the workforce back to 2019 personnel levels, which would eliminate around 80,000 positions across the department.

VA officials have emphasized that those cuts will not impact services or benefits and said positions to be eliminated will not be ones which directly work with veterans or family members. In a statement, VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz dismissed the protests as fear-mongering and exaggeration.

“Positions that are critical to providing care to veterans — including nursing positions — will not be affected by efforts to make VA more efficient,” he said. “VA’s focus is on streamlining administrative functions, eliminating redundancies, and reducing managerial administration burdens without hurting veteran care.”

But nurses like Johnson and Westmoreland — and Democratic lawmakers critical of the plans — insist worker cuts of that scale will inevitably hurt veterans’ care, even if the effects are indirect.

“We’re already spread way too thin,” said Beverly Simpson, a VA nurse who works in West Virginia. “Any more cuts or responsibilities affects the quality of the health care that the veterans receive, and it makes so much more room for errors to occur.”

Officials from NNU have lamented VA’s nurse hiring practices for years, saying the department has not been aggressive enough in properly staffing hospitals to meet growing needs.

Now, they said, the problem is getting even worse.

Trump announced a federal hiring freeze earlier this year, but exempted some critical jobs like VA health care posts. However, NNU leaders have said the uncertainty over future job cuts has led many members to start seeking jobs elsewhere and is discouraging potential recruits.

VA leaders dispute those claims. They said of the 91,000 nursing jobs in the VA system, about 8,800 are unfilled now — a vacancy rate lower than most other major medical systems.

“There is a nationwide shortage of nurses that makes recruiting and retention difficult across the health care sector,” Kasperowicz said. “We continue to demonstrate the ability to attract nurses to VA, and we have hired more than 1,600 nurses in the first half of [fiscal] 2025.”

He also challenged union officials to provide details of personnel shortages to VA management, so those problems can be addressed. Union officials said past complaints about the problems have gone unanswered.

Further complicating the conflict are White House moves to scale back federal union protections. As those collective bargaining fights are being debated in court, the nurses’ rallies have grown to include a coalition of other federal workers, local union representatives and several veterans advocacy groups.

Department officials said final plans for VA jobs cuts are still being developed and reviewed, with an eye toward preventing problems in benefits and health care delivery.

In a social media post just a few days after the first nurses rally, Collins said that too many critics “view the VA as a federal jobs program” and are pushing instead to “maintain a dysfunctional status quo” at the department.

“Our shared goal needs to be making things better for veterans rather than protecting the department’s broken bureaucracy,” he said.

But those assurances have not won over the nurses protesting outside VA locations. Officials said they will keep holding the events until their concerns are heard, and until a sensible plan for VA staffing levels is made public.

“When the unions band together with the community, there isn’t anything we can’t accomplish,” Westmoreland said. “We’re going to stop this. We’re going to make sure that our VA is safe for our veterans.”

“The amount of people who have been let go so far is minimal,” the Republican congressman from Illinois said during a recent sit-down with Military Times. “I trust [VA Secretary Doug Collins] when he has said that no one is going to lose their benefits. We’re going to provide good, quality care.

“What we’re doing is we’re realigning VA so that can be done correctly, it can be done efficiently and in the best way for the veteran.”

Veterans Affairs leaders have announced plans to trim up to 80,000 staffers from the department’s workforce as part of broader efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy.

As department officials spar with congressional Democrats over the looming staff reductions, Bost’s role as chairman of the House’s primary veterans policy committee sits squarely in the middle of the conflict.

He has accused his Democratic colleagues of “fear tactics” for their insistence that cuts of that scope will take away veterans’ benefits and services. But he has also promised close scrutiny of plans from Collins and VA leaders to ensure that those predictions don’t come true.

“I trust Secretary Collins, but that doesn’t stop me from being the chairman that has oversight over this issue,” Bost said. “We will continue to do that. I have made the commitment to veterans around this nation that the services that they receive are still going to be quality services, hopefully better services, and hopefully done more efficiently.

“Remember this: veterans are not just veterans, they’re also taxpayers.”

VA plans to cut hundreds of payroll jobs at regional medical sites

Similar to Collins’ public statements, Bost said he believes the Department of Veterans Affairs is in need of fundamental changes after years of unchecked increases, both in terms of spending authority and employee hiring.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had an overgrowth of bureaucracy,” he said. “We do want change. We want to make it better. We want to make it better for the veteran. We want to make it so that money that we spend is spent wisely to provide for the veteran, not just to grow bureaucracy.”

About 480,000 federal employees currently work within the department, the majority in VA hospitals and medical centers spread throughout the country. That total is up about 20% from when Trump left office in 2020.

The workforce grew after years of increased pressures on VA operations, including a massive expansion of military toxic exposure benefits in 2022 that has led to record-high disability benefits applications and increases in medical visits.

Bost is pushing for increased access to community care appointments to help with that surge, a move that has prompted additional criticism from congressional Democrats for potentially taking away responsibilities and resources from VA.

But he’ll also have to oversee hearings later this spring on the staffing cuts, a showdown that is likely to inject even more political fights into the issue of veterans’ care.

“The question is, is that money being spent wisely?” Bost said. “We’re gonna do everything we can to make sure it’s spent the way it’s supposed to be.”

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, states that moves by Department of Defense Education Activity leaders have unnecessarily harmed learning opportunities for students. The case involves 12 students from six families who attend military-run schools in Virginia, Kentucky, Italy and Japan.

“Learning is a sacred and foundational right that is now being limited for students in DoDEA schools,” said Natalie Tolley, one of the plaintiff parents in the lawsuit.

“The implementation of these executive orders, without any due process or parental or professional input, is a violation of our children’s right to access information that prevents them from learning about their own histories, bodies, and identities.”

Military school students’ test scores lead the nation

Since January, the department’s schools system — which encompasses 161 schools across 11 countries, including multiple sites in the United States — has begun removing books and changing classroom curricula related to “gender ideology” or “divisive equity ideology.”

Officials from the ACLU said that has included banning some texts about slavery, Native American history, LGBTQ+ history and sexual harassment prevention.

“These schools are some of the most diverse and high achieving in the nation, making it particularly insulting to strip their shelves of diverse books and erase women, LGBTQ people and people of color from the curriculum to serve a political goal,” said Emerson Sykes, senior staff attorney with the ACLU, in a statement.

“Our clients deserve better, and the First Amendment demands it.”

Defense Department officials have not yet publicly commented on the lawsuit. Leaders have defended similar moves — such as banning cultural awareness months and eliminating diversity and inclusion offices — as necessary to remove distractions and political ideology from military operations.

The lawsuit asks for a full revocation of the administration’s executive orders and reinstatement of all books, classroom materials and course guidelines to the Defense Department schools.

“The government can’t scrub references to race and gender from public school libraries and classrooms just because the Trump administration doesn’t like certain viewpoints on those topics,” said Matt Callahan, senior supervising attorney at the ACLU of Virginia.

Last week, hundreds of students at DoDEA schools staged walkouts over the controversial changes. Department leaders are still considering disciplinary action against individuals involved in those protests.

The moves, outlined in an internal memo signed by VA Secretary Doug Collins earlier this month, would shutter payroll offices at nearly 50 VA medical centers spread throughout the country, which employ around 600 staffers.

Their workload would instead be handled by the department’s Financial Services Center, centralizing finances for all department workers. Officials estimate the move will save the Veterans Health Administration about $13 million annually.

“Centralizing these payroll services will reduce administrative overhead, duplication errors, back pay settlements, fraud, and increase efficiencies,” Acting Chief Financial Officer Edward Murray wrote in the memo.

But it will also eliminate jobs for about 300 federal workers and force the relocation of 300 other positions. In a statement, VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said the department has yet to finalize details about which employees will be given opportunities to move or accept other department jobs.

VA secretary insists massive staff cuts needed to refocus department

“Despite the fact that VA has a proven payroll system that processes paychecks for more than 200,000 VA employees, some 50 VA medical centers still maintain their own payroll support staff,” Kasperowicz said. “By consolidating payroll and payroll support for all employees under VA’s Financial Services Center, VA will save money, time and resources.

“This is exactly the kind of commonsense reform that should have been done years ago but is only happening now under President Trump and Secretary Collins.”

Collins has already set a public goal of trimming at least 15% — about 72,000 staffers — from the VA workforce in coming years as part of an effort to reduce waste and inefficiencies within the department.

In his memo, Murray also outlined plans to consolidate Veterans Family Member Program payouts into the new centralized payroll operations, producing another $31 million in savings annually.

Officials said they are confident that after restructuring, the new office will be able to handle the increased workload without any disruptions to employee paychecks or family member benefits.

In late March, problems with VA’s payroll software caused delays in overtime and specialty pays for about 10,000 workers. Lawmakers said the issues raised concerns about department systems and staffing levels, but VA leaders dismissed the problems as a one-time glitch.

Democratic lawmakers have been fiercely opposed to plans for large-scale employee cuts at the department, saying the moves are likely to hurt medical care and benefits delivery for veterans. Collins has pushed back on those accusations and promised a careful review of potential impacts before the workforce reductions.

Kasperowicz said an implementation plan for the payroll staffing overhaul is still being developed.

In a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins on Monday, leaders from the Community Home Lenders of America — a non-profit association of small and mid-sized community mortgage lenders — said that companies working with veterans have received “no detailed guidance, or in fact any information, to help them properly advise veterans families of imminent changes” with the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program.

On April 4, VA leaders announced the 10-month-old VASP program would stop accepting new enrollees on May 1. The effort was launched to purchase defaulted VA loans from outside mortgage servicers in an effort to allow financially strapped veterans to avoid forfeiture of their homes.

About 17,000 veterans received home loans with lower interest rates through the program, according to VA statistics. But the effort drew sharp criticism from conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who claimed it undermined the existing VA home loans program by providing too much financial aid to a select few veterans.

VA leaders to halt mortgage rescue program launched last year

In a statement announcing the program changes, department officials said the decision to end VASP enrollment was made “because VA is not set up or intended to be a mortgage loan restructuring service.”

But in the last two weeks, Democratic lawmakers have attacked VA leaders for the move. A group of 22 congressional lawmakers wrote in a letter to Collins last week that “until better policy solutions are in place that provide for stronger underwriting, ending the VASP program abruptly will only harm veterans and their families.”

Monday’s letter from the Community Home Lenders of America echoed those concerns.

“The VA must elaborate in writing what the VASP deadline actually means,” group leaders wrote. “As just one example — if there is key information missing from an existing application VA should give the veteran and their servicer time to cure the fault if the application was submitted on time, rather than just deny the file.

“This is an area needing much more coordination between the VA and servicers.”

The nonprofit is asking for a 60-day transition deadline for individuals who may qualify for VASP but cannot get their enrollments finished before May 1.

But in an interview with Military Times on April 9, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., praised the decision to end the program and supported quick action on the change.

“The Veterans Home Loan Program has been around for a long time, and it is a golden opportunity for our veterans to get good lending rates for their homes so they can achieve the American dream,” he said “This program was putting that in danger.

“No one is going to be forced out, but this is a wise change.”

Congressional officials said in the last 10 months, VA officials have purchased more than $5.4 billion worth of home loans through the VASP program, with an average price of $320,000 per loan.

When the VASP program was launched in May 2024, VA officials estimated that as many as 40,000 veterans could benefit from the financial assistance. Community Home Lenders of America expressed concern that tens of thousands of veterans are still unaware of the potential benefits of the effort to their finances.

Unlike other leadership positions at VA, which can be nominated by the president based solely on the president’s goals for the posts, candidates for the undersecretary for health and undersecretary for benefits posts must come from recommendations of commissions featuring community advocates, industry experts and previous appointees from the department.

VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement Monday that VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence will chair both commissions and help find leaders who will continue “implementing a number of reforms to improve VA services for veterans, families, caregivers and survivors.”

VA secretary insists massive staff cuts needed to refocus department

The undersecretary for health post, held in the Biden administration by Dr. Shereef Elnahal, manages the operation of VA’s 1,300-plus medical care facilities. The Senate-confirmed official also handles guidelines for training and education of VA’s health care professionals and develops contingency health care plans in the event of a national emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, Deputy Undersecretary for Health Steven Lieberman is serving as the department’s acting undersecretary for health.

The undersecretary for benefits post, held in the last administration by Joshua Jacobs, oversees delivery of benefits for roughly 6 million veterans, as well as millions more family members, caregivers and survivors. That includes disability pay, education stipends and the VA home loan program.

Currently, Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits Michael Frueh is serving as the acting under secretary for benefits.

Filling the health care post was problematic for President Donald Trump during his first term in office. After elevating Dr. David Shulkin from the role to the VA secretary post, his first administration was unable to settle on a permanent candidate for the medical leadership role, and cycled through a series of temporary leaders for the entire four-year term.

In a statement announcing the new commissions, VA leaders touted their importance in implementing Trump’s second-term agenda. Among the “successful accomplishments and milestones” listed by department leaders were:

• Phasing out gender dysphoria treatment for transgender veterans as a cost-savings move
• Ending telework and remote work policies as an efficiency move
• Ending diversity and inclusion programs at the department as a cost-savings move
• Accelerating deployment of the new electronic health record system, with work set to resume in 2026
• Processing more disability claims so far this fiscal year than ever before

The commission work begins amid Collins’ review of plans to scale back the department’s workforce by more than 17% — about 80,000 workers — in coming months.

Department leaders have said the cuts are needed to make the bureaucracy more efficient. Critics have said the cuts will severely impact medical care delivery and benefits processing.

The commission’s candidate selection process is expected to take several months, and Senate confirmation could take months more if a nominee is chosen.

However, Trump can also reject all of the potential candidates and order the commissions to restart their work if he is unhappy with the results.

During testimony before the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, senior enlisted officials from each of the armed forces testified on quality-of-life initiatives and efforts to help families facing challenges because of the rigors of military life.

Those included a congressionally approved pay raise for junior enlisted troops that went into effect this month. Under legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden last year, troops ranked E-4 and below saw a 10% boost in monthly salaries, compared to their 2024 paychecks.

The move will bring paychecks for nearly all troops to more than $30,000 annually. E-2s with two years in service now have a base salary rise of about $31,000, up from $27,000 last year. E-4s with three years in the ranks saw their pay rise from $35,000 a year to more than $40,000 now.

What troops need to know about the basic pay raise in 2025

But lawmakers on Tuesday expressed concerns that the higher pay could also eliminate some families’ eligibility for support services like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.

They warned that while the higher pay will offset some of the need for federal support services, the extra monthly money may not completely eliminate those financial hardships.

“Are we simply canceling out good intentions of pay increase?” asked Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga.

Military officials said they do not believe so, but are closely monitoring the situation to ensure the extra pay doesn’t cause different financial problems.

“We’ve only had this in place since April 1, but what I would say is that we’re watching this closely,” said Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos Ruiz.

“The data tells us that with any change — this raise, or maybe a spouse gets employment or gets promoted — [families] would not climb more than one bracket in their childcare fees. That’s what I have so far.”

Air Force Chief Master Sergeant David Flosi said they expect only a small number of families to be impacted negatively by the extra paycheck boost, but promised that officials are monitoring those issues to ensure such problems can be addressed.

“If a family member or a service member demonstrates a financial need, we can adjust fees for child care or other services, to make sure we head off any financial crisis,” he said.

Past department surveys have shown that up to 3% of military families have accessed federal nutrition support programs in the past.

All troops received a 4.5% pay raise in January, the third consecutive year of paycheck boosts of more than 4%. Lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee have discussed a targeted pay boost for senior enlisted troops next year, as a way to help retention among those personnel.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins will make his first appearance since his confirmation before Congress this week, testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday about the fiscal 2026 budget.

Collins’ trip to Capitol Hill comes amid increasing frustration among Democratic lawmakers about department reform plans. The secretary has set a goal of reducing the VA workforce to less than 400,000 staffers, which would require eliminating more than 80,000 federal posts in the coming months.

In response, Collins has accused Democrats of fear-mongering and supporting a broken bureaucracy. He has insisted that VA must be more efficient with taxpayer money, including reducing its worker footprint.

How the secretary is received by the committee — and how much he spars with his former House colleagues — will set the tone for appearances before other congressional panels later this spring.

Tuesday, April 8

Wednesday, April 9

Thursday, April 10