Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins on Thursday delivered a candid assessment of his vision for restructuring the second-largest federal agency to align with President Donald Trump’s order to downsize the government. But Democratic and Republican lawmakers had different reactions to his testimony.

Claims processors at the Department of Veterans Affairs were inadequately trained and unprepared for the influx of veterans seeking benefits under the PACT Act, leading to improper decisions and miscalculated payments.

The Government Accountability Office is urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to bring greater focus to improving patient safety, modernizing its medical records and ensuring timely access to community care for the 9.2 million veterans enrolled in VA health care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is proposing a 4% increase for program funding in fiscal 2026, representing a $5 billion jump in spending as many other federal agencies brace for steep spending cuts.

The family of Air Force veteran Joe St. Clair, who is being unlawfully imprisoned in Venezuela, and several other families gathered last week in Washington to launch a media campaign called “Bring Our Families Home” to raise awareness about Americans detained and held against their will in foreign countries.

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether former Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough and other agency leaders violated federal law when they made an urgent request for $3 billion to close a budget shortfall that did not exist.

The national network of more than 150 state veterans homes would benefit from greater oversight from the Department of Veterans Affairs and annual VA inspections, a government watchdog agency said Tuesday.

Funding suicide prevention efforts at local agencies that are close to where veterans live was prioritized by senators as they considered reauthorizing — and possibly expanding — a $174 million grant initiative that pays for community-based outreach services, mental health screenings and emergency clinical services.

A new task force targeting anti-Christian bias at the Department of Veterans Affairs was established after some VA facilities restricted sermon content and an Army Reserve chaplain was removed from duty for preaching about biblical text against homosexuality, the VA said.

More than a dozen nonprofit agencies that assist ALS patients and support research sent a letter this week to the 43 members of the bipartisan ALS Congressional Caucus after a leaked proposed budget memo from the Health and Human Services Department called for defunding the registry and a biorepository with thousands of lab specimens.