Veterans whom the government declares incapable of managing their own affairs would have easier access to firearms under spending legislation expected to be signed by President Joe Biden in the coming days.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the largest federal employee union now have a new labor agreement after more than five years of negotiations.

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 federal government wrote duplicate checks to doctors who provided care for veterans, costing taxpayers as much as $128 million in extra payments, according to a new watchdog report out this week.

The pandemic has worsened an already dire shortage of blood across the nation.

Department of Veterans Services released a 52-page report this week, recommending renovations or closing several facilities—including the Salem Medical Center—due to aging infrastructure.

The VA released a report suggesting changes to several facilities. It cited aging infrastructure as the reason for closing the Salem VA.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has became the first major federal agency to require health care workers to get COVID-19 vaccines.

The Department of Veterans Affairs holds a listening session today for the Salem area. This is one of fifty sessions taking place across the country. The session is taking place virtually at noon for those registered. Today kicks off the second and final weekend of the Maple Festival at Southernmost Maple in Highland County. Highland County is home to the annual Maple Festival, but it’s canceled this year due to the pandemic.

FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2020 file photo, former national security adviser Susan Rice takes part in a discussion on global leadership at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. President-elect Joe Biden is naming Susan Rice as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. The move marks a surprising shift for Rice, a longtime Democratic foreign policy expert who served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser and U.N. ambassador. In selecting Rice and McDonough, Biden is continuing to stockpile his administration with prominent members of the Obama administration. In choosing Rice to oversee the White House council, advisers said Biden is signaling the importance of domestic policy in his early agenda. McDonough was previously Obama’s deputy national security adviser, including during the Navy SEAL raid in 2011 that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and was a longtime congressional staffer.

LASALLE, Ill. – State officials are investigating a coronavirus outbreak at a veterans nursing home in rural Illinois that has infected nearly 200 residents and staff, and killed 27 veterans. J.B. Pritzker’s office and the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs are attempting to determine what caused the outbreak at the state-run LaSalle Veterans Home in LaSalle, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. The department on Tuesday requested an independent probe into the facility, which was the focus of a state Senate committee virtual hearing on the outbreak. Since the beginning of November, two-thirds of residents and employees have tested positive, according to the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Also Tuesday, the state’s health director said Illinois will receive far fewer doses of the COVID-19 vaccine than originally estimated.

The VA is not the same VA as four years ago, insisted acting VA deputy secretary Pam Powers, pointing to increased outreach to women and improved trust ratings in the VA from employees and patients alike according to internal polling. His effort seeks to reinforce a call by top Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last week for a faster timeline. About 1 in 3 VA employees said they witnessed an act of sexual harassment. Overall, an estimated 26% of female and 14% of male VA employees experienced harassment during the two-year period. A study released by the VA last year found 1 in 4 women veterans using VA health care reported inappropriate comments by male veterans on VA grounds, raising concerns they may delay or miss their treatments.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is unveiling a long-awaited national plan Wednesday to stem a persistently high number of veteran suicides, with wide-ranging initiatives from firearm safety and wellness programs at workplaces to added barriers near railroads and bridges. Still, it remained unclear how much of the plan could result in immediate concrete action, especially in a presidential election year. Much of the effort will need congressional action as well as cooperation from governors and local groups juggling priorities of public safety and health in a pandemic. Currently, about 20 veterans die by suicide each day, about 1.5 times higher than those who havent served in the military. In particular, younger veterans and women generally were more skeptical of Trump, who received multiple draft deferments to avoid going to Vietnam.

FILE - In this March 27, 2019, file photo Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, left, speaks with Veterans Health Administration Executive in Charge, Dr. Richard Stone, second from left, before a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. To handle a possible second wave of COVID-19, it would need a six-month supply. A future pandemic wave may test all of us in our preparation, Stone told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. The Associated Press previously reported that VA health care facilities struggled with shortages of workers and protective equipment, forcing employees to reuse masks for days or weeks, even as VA leaders denied that it lacked adequate supplies. As of Tuesday, VA had 1,665 staff cases of COVID-19, including 133 that were considered active. At least 33 VA employees have died of the virus, according to VA data.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)WASHINGTON Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said Thursday that his department has all but stopped use of an unproven malaria drug on veterans with COVID-19. Major veterans organizations had called on the VA to explain its use of hydroxychloroquine after an analysis of VA hospital data was published month showing hundreds of veterans who took the drug saw no benefit for COVID-19. They remained at higher levels before tapering off in late April amid backlash over results of the VA hospital analysis and as remdesivir emerged as a form of treatment. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against the drug and said hydroxychloroquine should only be used for the coronavirus in formal studies. The VA has said it prescribed the drug only when medically appropriate, after full discussion between doctor and patient about the risks.

Still, it acknowledged that VA Secretary Robert Wilkie had wrongly asserted publicly without evidence that the drug had been shown to benefit younger veterans. In the first week of May, 17 patients had received the drug for COVID-19, according to VA data obtained by the AP. VA has not endorsed nor discouraged the use of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients and has left those decisions to providers and their patients, the VA said. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against the drug combination and said hydroxychloroquine should only be used for the coronavirus in formal studies. The analysis of VA hospital data, done by independent researchers at two universities with VA approval, was not a rigorous experiment.

Family of 82-yr-old Army vet who died at the VA medical center in West Virginia has filed a wrongful death claim against the VA.(CNN) - A series of suspicious deaths at a VA hospital in West Virginia is the subject of a federal criminal investigation, the Justice Department confirmed Friday. Questions have swirled around the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, as reports in recent days on the deaths of 11 patients have drawn the scrutiny of lawmakers and federal law enforcement. A source familiar with the investigation told CNN that the person had worked at the hospital at one point. Federal investigators including the FBI have been probing the deaths for over a year and have met with families of potential victims, another source familiar with the investigation said. About nine or 10 other patients at the hospital died from low blood sugar before his death as well, according to the claim.