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U.S. News
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Bipartisan federal legislation is being introduced that would protect U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets who report a sexual assault from being disciplined for minor collateral misconduct, such as underage drinking. Such a change would put the Connecticut service academy in line with policies at Department of Defense military academies. House members from Connecticut, California, Mississippi and Washington are co-sponsoring the bill. It comes amid recent revelations that the service did not widely disclose a six-year internal investigation it had conducted, known as Operation Fouled Anchor, into dozens of cases of sexual assault and misconduct between 1988 and 2006.
August 22, 2023 -
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A new report says female soldiers face rampant sexism, sexual harassment and other gender-related challenges in male dominated Army special operations units. The report on Monday comes eight years after the Pentagon opened all combat jobs to women. U.S. Army Special Operations Command reports a wide range of “overtly sexist” comments from male soldiers, including a broad aversion to females serving in commando units. It says the comments are “not outliers” but represent a common sentiment that females don’t belong on special operations teams. Several recommendations involving increased training to expand awareness of sexual harassment, mentorship, health care and other issues have been completed. Others are in progress.
August 21, 2023 -
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A new report says the U.S. military academies must improve their leadership, stop toxic practices such as hazing, and shift behavior training into the classrooms in order to address an alarming spike in sexual assaults and misconduct. The report says the academies must train student leaders better to help their classmates, and upend what has been a disconnect between what the cadets and midshipmen are learning in school and the often negative and unpunished behavior they see by those mentors. The review calls for additional senior officers to work with students and provide expanded training. The report was released Thursday.
August 17, 2023 -
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In today's Federal Newscast: The FBI is getting a new leader to take on insider threats. The Defense Department mobilizes resources to help in Hawaii. And the saga of the CIO-SP4 contract continues.
August 16, 2023 -
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Congressional leaders are pitching a stopgap government funding package to avoid a federal shutdown after next month. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy raised the idea to House Republicans on a members-only call. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the two leaders had spoken about such a temporary measure. It's an acknowledgement the Republican-led House and Democratic Senate are nowhere near agreement on spending levels. The fiscal year starts Oct. 1, when funding will be needed. The stopgap measure would fund operations into December but McCarthy needs support from Republicans who are loathe to agree as they push for steeper cuts.
August 15, 2023 State Sen. John Scott, a longtime South Carolina lawmaker who served in state government for more than three decades, has died after a stint in the hospital. In a statement released by Senate President Thomas Alexander, Scott’s family says he “passed away peaceably while surrounded by family and close friends.” He was 69. Scott had been at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston since Friday when he was hospitalized for an undisclosed medical issue, according to Senate officials. The Columbia Democrat operated a realty company and had been in the Legislature for more than 30 years. A special election will be held to fill his seat.
August 13, 2023-
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Biden asks Congress for $40 billion to support Ukraine, replenish US disaster aid and bolster borderThe Biden administration is asking Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense aid to Ukraine and an additional $8 billion for humanitarian support through the end of the year.
August 11, 2023 -
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President Joe Biden has praised leaders from both parties for unifying behind veterans a year ago, when they joined in passing the largest expansion of veterans benefits in decades. The PACT Act is intended to improve health care and disability compensation for exposure to toxic substances, such as burn pits used to dispose of trash on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 348,000 veterans have had their claims approved in the last year. An additional 111,000 who are believed to have toxic exposure have enrolled in health care. The president and Utah's Republic governor, Spencer Cox, joined in Salt Lake City on Thursday to speak about the act on its anniversary.
August 10, 2023 -
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Hundreds of thousands of veterans have received additional benefits in the past year after President Joe Biden signed legislation expanding coverage for conditions connected to burn pits that were used to destroy trash and potentially toxic materials. The first anniversary of the law is Thursday, and Biden will mark the occasion at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Salt Lake City. Administration officials are trying to encourage as many people as possible to sign up by Wednesday, which would allow their benefits to be retroactive to when the law was signed. The agency is also trying to hire more people to handle the influx of claims, which is expected to cause larger backlogs over the coming months.
August 06, 2023 -
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is warning that troop readiness and retention is at risk as the Army’s chief recently stepped down, leaving the military’s two ground combat forces without Senate-confirmed leaders for the first time in history. Austin said Friday that the Senate’s failure to confirm the services’ new leaders is disruptive to the force and could impact relationships with allies and partners around the globe. The confirmation of the next Army chief and Marine commandant are among more than 300 nominations that are stalled by a Republican senator over the Pentagon’s policy to pay for travel when a service member has to go out of state to get reproductive care.
August 04, 2023 -
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New lawsuits claim that the U.S. Defense Department and the Department of Veteran Affairs are making it difficult and sometimes impossible for veterans to get infertility treatments. Multiple lawsuits were filed Wednesday in federal courts in New York and Boston seeking to hold the United States accountable for creating obstacles to health care access for a population that advocates say has a higher rate of infertility than the population at large. The lawsuits seek to obtain in vitro fertilization coverage for military service members and veterans who don't fit the Veterans Affairs definition of infertility as pertaining solely to married, heterosexual couples.
August 02, 2023 -
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The Pentagon is pulling 1,100 troops from the U.S.-Mexico border that it had deployed in response to a surge in migrant crossings. A defense official, on the condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press on Tuesday the details ahead of an announcement. The active duty troops were sent to the border in May amid fears that the end of COVID-19 immigration restrictions was going to result in a crush of migrants attempting to cross into the United States. But immediately after Title 42 expired, the number of encounters dropped sharply, and have stayed low, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
August 01, 2023 President Joe Biden has decided to keep the U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado, overturning a last-ditch decision by the Trump administration to move it to Alabama. The choice ended months of thorny deliberations, but an Alabama lawmaker vowed to fight on. U.S. officials say Biden was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. His view, however, was in contrast to Air Force leadership, which studied the issue at length and determined that moving to Huntsville, Alabama, was the right move.
July 31, 2023-
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The Senate has passed a massive annual defense bill that would deliver a 5.2% pay raise for service members and keep the nation’s military operating. The Senate sidestepped more divisive policy matters to move the bill forward with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. The Senate's bill sets up a clash with the House, which passed its own version of the annual defense bill along party lines after repeated clashes over social issues like abortion access and diversity initiatives. The Senate bill authorizes $886 billion in defense spending for the coming year, in line with President Joe Biden’s budget request. Congress will have to allocate the funding later during the appropriations process.
July 27, 2023
