Democrats Demand Answers From VA on Vets’ Struggles for Mental Healthcare — ProPublica

The letter from lawmakers to Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins cites a recent ProPublica investigation that found hundreds of therapists have left the agency and vets often aren’t getting the help they need...

 https://www.propublica.org/article/democrats-veterans-affairs-doug-collins-letter-mental-health

WATCH: Trump announces effort to train veterans as truckers amid immigrant driver crackdown | PBS News

A new campaign launched last week will promote programs that let veterans who recently drove large military vehicles skip the required skills test for a commercial driver's license. Other soldiers can attend a commercial driving school during their last six months of active duty. The GI Bill will also pay for 100% of commercial driver's license training and for some people even pay a housing allowance while they are in school…

 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-announces-effort-to-train-veterans-as-truckers-amid-undocumented-driver-crackdown

Trump administration’s revision of Iran war casualties ‘huge disrespect’, say veterans

“It’s such a huge disrespect for the families,” said Michael E Smith, a retired US rear admiral and the founder of National Security Leaders for America. “To claim that they weren’t killed as a result of the war – oh, it was just overseas operations – is just ludicrous.”…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/27/trump-administration-iran-war-casualties-veterans 

 

Trump is pushing to institutionalize homeless people. That may include veterans : NPR

More than 30,000 U.S. military veterans are homeless, according to the latest government data from an annual one-night "point in time count." That number is down significantly in the past decade, which most experts credit to a straightforward combination of robust funding and a philosophy focused on offering housing without prerequisites, called housing first. 

While the Trump administration has promised new housing for vets, President Trump also signed an executive order last year titled "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets," which leans heavily toward institutionalizing homeless people against their will. This winter, NPR obtained slides describing a proposed VA plan called "Safe Harbor," which would include veterans in that shift to involuntary treatment. Then, in March, the VA put out a memorandum of understanding with the Justice Department about state court guardianship for veterans…

 https://www.npr.org/2026/06/25/nx-s1-5866754/trump-institutionalize-homeless-veterans

Trump pledged to house 6,000 homeless vets. His budget funds zero : NPR

" There's no way in hell you're gonna come here and say $500 million is a down payment, and you can't tell me what the actual cost is," Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin said at the hearing. 

"We're not doing this any longer," he said. "This is corruption, and it's gonna stop now."…

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/28/nx-s1-5836556/trump-homeless-veterans-la 

 

Advocacy group sues Trump administration over access to abortion for veterans | PBS News

The federal lawsuit filed Thursday says the rule finalized by the VA on Dec. 31 takes away limited abortion access that was "crucial for the health, autonomy, and equality of veterans and their family members." 

 Attorneys for the group Minority Veterans of America want the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to throw out the rule. They say the VA adopted the change without citing medical evidence or other justifications, violating the Administrative Procedures Act that governs federal rulemaking…

 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/advocacy-group-sues-trump-administration-over-access-to-abortion-for-veterans

 

Veterans group sues Trump administration over ban on abortion services

In the lawsuit filed with the US court of appeals for the federal circuit, Minority Veterans of America claims that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which bars federal agencies from acting “arbitrarily or capriciously”, by restoring restrictions on abortion services for veterans and dependents whose pregnancies result from rape or incest or whose health could be jeopardized by continuing a pregnancy...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/15/abortion-veterans-affairs-lawsuit-trump-administration 

 

GOP Rep has NO IDEA how many of his constituents go hungry

 https://youtube.com/shorts/cBsKGdOWWe8?si=93odCAngLqerylzh

Trump’s VA killed a home loan program. Vets are now losing their homes : NPR

More than 10,000 veterans lost their homes to foreclosure since May of last year, when the Trump administration shut down a key safety net in the VA home loan program, according to the latest industry data. That is the highest pace of foreclosures for VA loans in a decade. 

 Another 90,000 vets are heading toward foreclosure. This comes after a years-long debacle inside the Department of Veterans Affairs has whiplashed thousands of vets between various enacted and canceled programs and left many of them on the brink of losing their homes — often through no fault of their own…

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/02/nx-s1-5750814/veterans-mortgages-foreclosure-va-rescue

 

David Rothkopf and Paul Rieckhoff on The Iran War (Al Franken podcast on YouTube)

America is at war with Iran. It's the eighth time that Donald Trump has attacked another country since he began his second term (despite pledging "no new wars" during his campaign). To break it all down, we're joined by foreign affairs expert David Rothkopf and Paul Rieckhoff, Iraq War vet and CEO of the Independent Veterans of America.

We take a look at the difficult history between America and Iran along with the current military campaign Trump has started in the region. Trump and his administration have yet to outline exactly WHY we are fighting, and with Americans already dying, it's no surprise that this war is extremely unpopular. Not to mention, this is costing our country a billion dollars a day and will only become more expensive as the war expands.

David and Paul discuss the long term impact this might have for America and the Middle East and how it may escalate in the region and could signal a scary moment for the global nuclear arms race.
Interview: 

https://youtu.be/tq2sxdSADWQ?si=5sdNW9FTParpvPYy

Very Aesthetic, Donald?

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/l_Rb6wpECQA

 

BREAKING: Veterans from every branch are speaking out against Donald Trump

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EqV6Qms4NQ8

 

History Minute #033: veterans return home from war with Mexico

Quoting Zinn:

As the veterans returned home, speculators immediately showed up to buy the land warrants given by the government. Many of the soldiers, desperate for money, sold their 160 acres for less than $50. The New York Commercial Advertiser said in June 1847: "It is a well-known fact that immense fortunes were made out of the poor soldiers who shed their blood in the revolutionary war by speculators who preyed upon their distresses. A similar system of depredation was practised upon the soldiers of the last war."

Excerpt From

A People's History of the United States

Howard Zinn

Get your copy — Support your local bookstores by shopping Bookshop.org:

US court rejects Trump officials’ effort to delay rulings on veterans benefits

Exclusive: unanimous ruling calls administration's push to halt reviews of disability appeals an 'extreme request'…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/23/court-trump-veterans-benefits-rulings

 

Is Graham Platner Toast? (Find Out podcast)

Today on The Find Out Podcast, we dig into the controversy surrounding Graham Platner — and ask the question everyone’s wondering: can his campaign survive, or is it already toast?

We also tackle the growing crisis at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where new attempts to limit care could hit the veterans who need it most.

It’s a powerful conversation about accountability, leadership, and what happens when those in power forget who they’re supposed to serve.

Interview: 

https://youtu.be/6zOMhAjWen4?si=KamM_PSLPsIIyQEl

Lawmakers slam Ice after US military veterans are arrested, injured

"We are seeing unjustifiable and excessive force at the Portland Ice facility," said Dexter, a physician who practiced for eight years at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals. She noted that on 4 October, an 84-year-old demonstrator sustained a concussion when she was rushed and knocked to the ground by federal agents during what the Oregonian newspaper described as a "peaceful protest." 

The woman's husband, also 84 and a Vietnam war veteran, was also pushed to the ground, the Oregonian reported. According to the newspaper, he was leaning on his walker and wearing his Vietnam veterans cap when federal officers pushed him...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/20/military-veterans-arrested-injured-lawmakers-ice

 

Growing number of US veterans face arrest over Ice raid protests

Veterans are facing federal charges after protesting Ice sweeps and Trump's national guard deployments. The justice department claims the veterans were violent…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/13/us-veterans-protest-ice-raids

 

Veterans react to Hegseth’s ‘insulting’ address to generals and admirals | Pete Hegseth | The Guardian

"A lot of the words that are coming to me aren't fit to print," said Shah, policy director for Common Defense, a veterans advocacy organization. "The people in that room who have served for 20, 30-plus years in uniform do not need Pete Hegseth to tell them about warrior ethos.".. 

"I thought it was insulting," Pittard said of the address, rejecting Hegseth's assertion that senior officers of color – like himself – had benefitted from a non-existent quota system for promotions…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/01/pete-hegseth-generals-speech-veterans-react

 

Jon Stewart FEARLESSLY Calls Out Right Wingers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaVvVi6HOKo

US veterans agency lost thousands of ‘core’ medical staff under Trump, records show

Departures are exacerbating existing shortages and creating 'very unsafe' conditions for patients, veterans and health workers say…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/11/us-veterans-affairs-agency-medical-staff-departures