"Two-thirds of the contracts DOGE canceled at the Department of Veterans Affairs this year were with veteran-owned businesses. Some of those contracts were helping the VA register cancer patients or provide health care support to veterans"

"low-value or fraudulent programs can drain a veteran’s GI Bill entitlement while providing degrees with poor labor-market outcomes" OVERSIGHT MATTERS

Study: IOPs have the lowest drop-out rate for veterans getting trtmt for PTSD. Need help? check out WWP's Warrior Care Network!

As an adoptive parent, I am deeply grateful formula is a widely available, safe, healthy option.

“if you are caring 4 a veteran who lost his leg from a blast explosion, & he later develops diabetes, you must treat that diabetes if you want to continue effectively treating his amputated limb [or] he won’t be able to wear his prosthesis & may even die from a systemic infection.”

Pro: WIT reinstatement, pay raise, anti-TBI efforts Con: No IVF expansion, ban on anti-discrimination programs & reporting, anti-trans provision

How about we also find ways to ensure there are enough providers for adequate individual psychotherapy inside VA (meaning: evidence based & culturally competent care)?

Great piece www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nure...

These policy changes are “likely to weaken morale, narrow the talent pool, and harm readiness more than a few beards ever could”

“None of that authorizes, under either domestic law or international law, killing people who are in the process of allegedly transporting drugs”

“the IG said Hegseth’s sharing of nonpublic information so close to an airstrike operation carried significant risks”

Revealed: US veterans affairs to share immigration data about non-citizen workers with ‘appropriate agencies’ | US immigration | The Guardian

How did the U.S., which began as skeptical of the standing army, came to see it as a guardian of democracy? By asking military officers to swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Great piece by Carrie Lee. buff.ly/pSCo3cn

New from RAND: what does the 90-10 rule mean for student veterans ... and for-profit institutions? buff.ly/tVBPJY9

Today at 10:15A eastern - HVAC hearing on HR 6047 & Hr 4077. The first would raise DIC but pay for it by making disabled vets <70% pay a funding fee for home loan guaranty program. Tell your reps if you have opinions. Watch here: buff.ly/sGJRXiO

“Bottom line, it’s all about the money.”

“The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both”

PLEASE work with an accredited VSO for FREE

RAND report: traumatic brain injury research on SOF inadequate buff.ly/W3joh0X

Terrible for our community to see military dot com and Military Times gutted when they are most needed www.cjr.org/feature/mili...

V interesting thread

“Our Government and institutions placed in jeopardy have brought us to a more just appreciation of their value.”

Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw. The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.

Big appreciation to @vettix.bsky.social for making @bmcgough.bsky.social’s birthday eve awesome!

Government is serious business for serious people.

New release from RAND: Massachusetts Veteran Needs Assessment buff.ly/dPWUCVi

The number of ways this is disgraceful behavior from the Secretary of Defense is...a lot. Service members do have a duty to refuse illegal orders All Americans have a 1st Amendment right to say that out loud.

“Officers swear to ‘support and defend the Constitution’… What they do not swear to do is equally important: Officers make no promise to obey the president and the officers above them.” open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

No federal research tracks full info on student veterans, and data relying on the FAFSA doesn't capture 1/3 veterans. Help SVA fill in the caps with their annual census:

Help Student Veterans of America understand how student veterans experience insecurity - take their survey now! buff.ly/pXkeLEf

“Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity. In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage. We will continue to lead and will not be intimidated. Don’t Give Up the Ship!”

If you receive an illegal order, you have a duty to disobey. This isn’t controversial. A President calling for the execution of anyone who reminds service members of this oath is showing us why the duty to disobey illegal orders is so important in the first place.

Don't give up the ship.

What are we doing?

“Immigration, racism and the failure of political leadership … it’s being repeated. We must do everything to stop what’s happening again today because it was horrible.”

The other day I sent a friend a link in Messenger to a nonprofit doing work I thought might be relevant to what she does. IMMEDIATELY a notice popped up that my account was suspended for violating Meta's TOS for advertising and I needed to appeal to unfreeze my account 1/

"The Defense Department’s annual budget is approaching a trillion dollars. The public has a right to know how that money is being spent and if it is being spent judiciously. An astute Congress and an engaged press corps serve in 'watchdog' roles."

Abortion is health care.

"I know that on the battlefield, what matters isn’t whether you have the right papers, it’s whether you’re willing to put on the uniform and risk your life for this country. If you’re willing to do that, you deserve a clear, fair path to citizenship” buff.ly/mKdxwkO

My statement on Trump’s defense of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman after he was asked about the murder of journalist and Northern Virginia resident Jamal Khashoggi:

I meant this a few years ago and still believe it - but today the call isn’t “so go use VA” but “fight to save VA from privatization”

ALERT: WiSCI Releases Independent Review of Hegseth’s 11 Memos WiSCI has published executive summaries and initial risk assessment of the 11 memos recently issued by Sec. Hegseth. Read the full WiSCI Executive Summaries: ab7fc154-9676-4805-8227-d57562a9b5b8.filesusr.com/ugd/b77811_8... #veteran

Food labeling is wild Apples marked gluten free Wrapper on my cheese proclaiming it low-carb What are we doing

Local MTF pharmacy is in chaos due to “new system” my guess: MHS Genesis, basically same as the EHR VA gets beat up for Why doesn’t DoD (oops DoW) get the same scrutiny?

“talking about slavery without addressing the way it continues to shape the social, political, and economic infrastructure of our country today is like talking about a hurricane only by discussing the speed of its winds, and not the damage it left behind” Kids can handle nuanced discussions.

Me, at the grocery store checkout: huh?

What a photograph. “Nearly two dozen arrested as faith leaders protested outside a federal immigration facility near Chicago…” Arrested large amounts of peaceful clergy face first on pavement is a pretty good sign you’re not the good guys in the story. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

I almost spit out my coffee buff.ly/lkFIFD7

Interesting