While such memos are rare, it was not the first time the military’s top civilian leader has pressed the force on its duty to the Constitution in regard to a changeover of control under Trump.

However, in the context of the incoming president’s suggestion that he may use federal forces at the southern border, and Project 2025 plans to force out career civilians and fill positions with Trump loyalists, the Biden administration has taken unusual steps both to try to insulate those civil servants and to remind the military of its own sworn oaths.

“As it always has, the U.S. military will stand ready to carry out the policy choices of its next Commander in Chief, and to obey all lawful orders from its civilian chain of command,” Austin wrote in his letter to Defense Department personnel.

“The U.S. military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena; to stand guard over our republic with principle and professionalism; and to stand together with the valued allies and partners who deepen our security,” he wrote.

Austin reminded all members of the military that they swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution — “and that is precisely what you will continue to do.”

In 2016, the outgoing defense secretary in the Obama administration, Ash Carter, also pressed for an orderly transition after Trump was elected, telling the force he knew it would continue in the tradition of excellence “our citizens know they can expect.”

And when Trump's Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned in 2018, he urged the force to remain “undistracted from our sworn mission to support and defend the Constitution.”

“Our Department is proven to be at its best when times are most difficult,” Mattis wrote in December 2018, after resigning due to disagreements with Trump over a withdrawal of troops in Syria.

After the Biden administration, through the Office of Professional Management, issued a new rule in April to further insulate career civil servants from being involuntarily replaced by political appointees, Austin reiterated the Pentagon’s commitment to do the same. In a letter dated July 10, he said civil servants would be shielded “from unlawful or other inappropriate political encroachments."

The regulations were in response to an executive order Trump issued in 2020 that sought to allow for reclassifying tens of thousands of the 2.2 million federal employees and thus reduce their job security protections, which is expected to re-emerge in the second Trump term. It is unclear what sort of protections that workforce will still have in a new administration, particularly if Trump issues an executive order undoing the protections put in place for those civilian workers under President Joe Biden.

In addition to the top post at VA, Wilkie also served as the Pentagon’s top personnel official during the first Trump administration.

In a statement released Wednesday, Trump transition team co-chairs Linda McMahon and Howard Lutnick said the focus of the various handover efforts will be “selecting personnel to serve our nation under [Trump’s] leadership and to enact policies that make the life of Americans affordable, safe, and secure.”

Wilkie’s role was first reported by Politico.

Wilkie served from July 2018 to January 2021 as the most senior official at VA, replacing Trump’s first secretary for the department, Dr. David Shulkin. He also served as acting secretary for two months prior to his Senate confirmation.

As secretary, he oversaw the initial stages of the department’s electronic health records overhaul and the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic within the VA health care system.

Wilkie courted controversy late in his term after a VA inspector general report criticized his mishandling of a sexual assault allegation against a veteran visiting the Washington, D.C., VA Medical Center.

The report detailed how Wilkie directed an investigation into the victim, a Democratic congressional aide, and worked behind the scenes to discredit her. The inspector general labeled his actions “unprofessional” but did not find any criminal wrongdoing.

Still, more than two dozen Democratic members of Congress and 20 veterans groups — including the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion — publicly called for Wilkie’s resignation or firing. Neither happened, and he left office after Trump’s term expired.

Since then, Wilkie has worked as a military and veterans expert at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank launched by former Trump appointees in 2021.

As head of the defense transition efforts, Wilkie will lead Trump’s search for a new defense secretary, as well as other senior civilian leadership posts within the military.

Republicans are expected to hold a majority in the Senate next year, easing the path to confirmation for those picks.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the order by the judge, Air Force Col. Matthew McCall, has not yet been posted publicly or officially announced.

‘We failed’: How an F-16 flight on 9/11 shaped National Guard’s No. 2

Unless government prosecutors or others attempt to challenge the plea deals again, McCall’s ruling means that the three 9/11 defendants before long could enter guilty pleas in the U.S. military courtroom at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, taking a dramatic step toward wrapping up the long-running and legally troubled government prosecution in one of the deadliest attacks on the United States.

The plea agreements would spare Mohammed and two co-defendants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, the risk of the death penalty in exchange for the guilty pleas.

Government prosecutors had negotiated the deals with defense attorneys under government auspices, and the top official for the military commission at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base had approved the agreements.

The plea deals in the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people spurred immediate political blowback by Republican lawmakers and others after they were made public this summer.

Within days, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a brief order saying he was nullifying them. Plea bargains in possible death penalty cases tied to one of the gravest crimes ever carried out on U.S. soil were a momentous step that should only be decided by the defense secretary, Austin said at the time.

The agreements, and Austin’s attempt to reverse them, have made for one of the most fraught episodes in a U.S. prosecution marked by delays and legal difficulties. That includes years of ongoing pretrial hearings to determine the admissibility of statements by the defendants given their years of torture in CIA custody.

The Pentagon is reviewing the judge’s decision and had no immediate further comment, said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.

Lawdragon, a legal news site that long has covered the courtroom proceedings from Guantanamo, and The New York Times first reported the ruling.

‘Don’t let me go’: Army’s 9/11 survivors and responders look back

Military officials have yet to post the judge’s decision on the Guantanamo military commission’s online site. But Lawdragon said McCall’s 29-page ruling concludes that Austin lacked the legal authority to toss out the plea deals, and acted too late, after Guantanamo’s top official already had approved the deals.

Abiding by Austin’s order would give defense secretaries “absolute veto power” over any act they disagree with, which would be contrary to the independence of the presiding official over the Guantanamo trials, the law blog quotes McCall as saying in the ruling.

While families of some of the victims and others are adamant that the 9/11 prosecutions continue until trial and possible death sentences, legal experts say it’s not clear that could ever happen. If the 9/11 cases ever clear the hurdles of trial, verdicts and sentencings, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit would likely hear many of the issues in the course of any death penalty appeals.

The issues include the CIA destruction of videos of interrogations, whether Austin’s plea deal reversal constituted unlawful interference and whether the torture of the men tainted subsequent interrogations by “clean teams” of FBI agents that did not involve violence.

AP writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

Rajesh Motibhai Patel, 69, had been charged with assaulting four patients but was convicted by a federal jury in only one of the cases. In a statement, VA Inspector General Michael Missal, whose office helped investigate the allegations, called the verdict an important step towards restoring patient trust in the health care system.

“VA employees are entrusted with keeping our nation’s veterans safe while receiving care. Acts of violence against veterans in VA facilities are reprehensible and shatters that trust,” he said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold anyone who would commit these crimes accountable.”

Patel was removed from his post at the Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center in spring 2023 after department officials were informed of the sexual assault allegations. He had previously worked as a primary care physician there.

Justice Department officials said that Patel improperly groped female patients’ breasts and vaginal areas during multiple routine exams between 2019 and 2020. A federal jury acquitted him of charges related to three victims but found him guilty of assault in the fourth case.

“Veterans who consulted him for treatment, like the victim in this case, trusted Dr. Patel, and he violated that trust,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement. “His conviction hopefully provides a measure of healing for those impacted by his crimes.”

Patel is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20.

But Trump’s history of strong support for Israel coupled with his insistence during the campaign that the war in Gaza should end quickly, the isolationist forces in the Republican party and his penchant for unpredictability raise a mountain of questions over how his second presidency will affect the region at this pivotal moment.

US sending bombers, more warships to Middle East

Barring the achievement of elusive cease-fires before the inauguration, Trump will ascend to the highest office in the country as a brutal war in Gaza still rages and Israel presses its offensive against the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group. A conflagration between Iran and Israel shows no signs of abating — nor do Israel’s conflicts with Iranian proxies in Iraq and Yemen — and Iran’s nuclear program remains a top concern for Israel.

Trump says he wants peace, but how?

Throughout his campaign, Trump has vowed to bring peace to the region.

“Get it over with and let’s get back to peace and stop killing people,” Trump said of the conflict in Gaza in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in April.

Israel launched the war in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, when militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250, with dozens still in Gaza. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 43,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, though they say more than half of the dead are women and children.

The war has ignited a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, driven Israel into increasing international isolation, with two world courts examining charges of war crimes, and has sparked a wave of protests on American campuses that have fueled debate over the U.S. role as Israel’s key military and diplomatic supporter.

International mediators from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have tried unsuccessfully to bring about a lasting cease-fire.

Yet Trump has repeatedly urged to Israel “finish the job” and destroy Hamas — but hasn’t said how.

“Does finish the job mean you have a free hand to act in dealing with the remnants of Hamas? Or does finish the job mean the war has to come to an end now?” asked David Makovsky, director of the program on Arab-Israel Relations at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “That’s part of the enigmas here.”

Netanyahu is pinning his hopes on a pro-Israel Trump administration

Uncertainty also shrouds how Trump will engage with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During his first term, Trump offered broad support for the Israeli leader’s hard-line policies, including unilaterally withdrawing from a deal meant to rein in Iran’s nuclear program that Netanyahu long opposed.

Trump also recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, bolstering its claim over the disputed city, and Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. He presented a peace plan with the Palestinians widely seen as favoring Israel. Settlement-building in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, seen as an obstacle to Palestinian statehood, surged under his presidency.

Trump also helped secure agreements between Israel and four Arab countries to normalize ties that were not contingent on progress toward Palestinian statehood — a major victory for Netanyahu. The Israeli leader hopes to replicate those successes with a deal with Saudi Arabia.

The leaders had a falling out after Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden following the 2020 elections — a move Trump viewed as a slight from his loyal ally, though Netanyahu visited Trump in Florida this year.

Under Biden, the U.S. has been critical at times and slowed some weapons deliveries in response to Israel’s conduct in Gaza. Netanyahu is likely hoping that Trump’s return will loosen any restraints on Israel to pursue its war goals. The American leader could also work to challenge a potential international war crimes arrest warrant for Netanyahu. And a smoother relationship with Washington could help improve the Israeli leader’s own popular support.

“He has the most pro-Israel record of any president,” said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington. “The hope is here that there’ll be more of the same.”

Neither Netanyahu nor Trump has a clear vision for postwar Gaza

Netanyahu leads a far-right government whose key members have vowed to topple his rule if the war in Gaza ends with anything short of Hamas’ destruction. They support resettling Gaza and are enthusiastic about a Trump presidency — and their influence will only grow now that Netanyahu has fired his defense minister over his more pragmatic approach to the conflict.

Their grip on the government and over Netanyahu’s political future helps explain why Netanyahu has not spelled out a clear vision for a postwar Gaza.

The Biden administration has favored having the war-ravaged territory governed by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank. Netanyahu has rejected that idea and insists on the right for the Israeli military to operate there.

Trump has not outlined a clear vision, although he has said developers could make Gaza “better than Monaco” because it has “the best location in the Middle East, the best water, the best everything.”

Diana Buttu, a former adviser to Palestinian leaders, said a lack of a firm U.S. vision for Gaza, coupled with a politically powerful Israeli far right, made the future for people in Gaza and for Palestinians in general grim.

“I don’t see this as a president who is going to care about Palestinians,” she said.

Will Trump help defend Israel against Iran or choose ‘America First’?

In Lebanon, Israel is battling the Iranian-backed Hezbollah with both a ground invasion and strikes on Hezbollah targets. The militant group has fired thousands of rockets and drones at Israeli communities, killing dozens and displacing 60,000. Israel’s offensive, meanwhile, has displaced over 1 million people in Lebanon and killed more than 3,000.

U.S. mediation efforts there too have been fruitless. Trump, who has a Lebanese-American son-in-law, recently posted on the social platform X that as president he would “stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon.”

But a key question is how much Trump will be swayed by his America First instincts.

The U.S. has played a central role in diplomatic efforts throughout the war, and an even more robust role in helping Israel defend itself against Iran and its allies.

The U.S. has sent military assets to the region, helped Israel thwart two missile attacks by Iran and even has U.S. soldiers in Israel to operate a sophisticated air defense system. But any effective Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, a target it avoided in its strike last month, will likely need greater U.S. military involvement.

Accusations that Iran has hacked campaign associates and concerns about the potential for Tehran to carry out violence against Trump or members of his administration could deepen his antipathy toward the country.

While Trump has indicated he will focus on domestic affairs, the Mideast could be an outlier.

He enjoys a wide base of support from evangelical Christians, who are staunchly pro-Israel, and his son-in-law and former adviser Jared Kushner was a prominent voice in support of the country in his first administration.

“As Trump is likely to navigate between those forces mostly based on his intuition,” said Udi Sommer, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Tel Aviv University, “uncertainty will likely define his approach.”

The Associated Press called the race in favor of Sheehy early Wednesday morning, with the Republican leading by nearly 8% in the vote.

Sheehy is a former Navy SEAL who also graduated from Army Ranger School as part of a special operations exchange program between the services. He courted controversy during his campaign for claiming to have been shot while serving in Afghanistan, despite no military records backing up the claim.

His victory will add another veteran to the list of prominent Republicans with military service in the Senate, including Arkansas’ Tom Cotton and Florida’s Rick Scott.

How veterans are faring in the 2024 election

Tester’s defeat represents a significant political setback for the Democratic Party, not just because of the loss of control of the Senate but also because of Tester’s leadership on a host of national security and veterans issues.

He has served in the Senate since 2007 and been chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee since 2017. Tester was a leading voice on the PACT Act — legislation which provided disability benefits and expanded health care to millions of veterans with military toxic exposure injuries — ahead of its passage in 2022.

Tester has served as the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel for the last three years, helping guide annual funding decisions for the Department of Defense.

However, the results may not be known for several days or weeks.

That’s because each state has different rules regarding absentee voting, counting of mail-in ballots and verification of vote totals. In 2020, the presidential election could not be called until a week after the final votes were cast because of those complications. Some congressional races took even longer to decide.

Election officials have asked the public for patience while official tallying of the votes takes place. Military Times will be tracking all of the congressional races involving veterans here on election night and the coming weeks. For the latest results, refresh this page.

In a letter sent late Friday to leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee, all 13 members of the House Armed Services Committee’s special panel on quality of life called the issue “urgent” and pushed senators to reconsider their decision to support only a trimmed-down version of House quality-of-life reforms.

“The panel repeatedly heard first-hand how military families — traditionally a bedrock source of military recruiting — are less likely to recommend military service for their own children, predominantly due to quality of life concerns,” the group wrote. “This is an urgent indicator that we must promptly correct with meaningful results, not just supportive rhetoric.”

The panel — led by Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa. — has been working for the last 22 months on efforts to improve service member pay, child care services and housing support in the military.

Junior enlisted pay bump to cost as much as two new aircraft carriers

In June, the House passed a draft of the annual defense authorization bill including the special panel’s recommendations. That included pay raises for troops ranked E-4 and below of up to 19.5% next year, bringing nearly every service members’ base salary above $30,000 annually.

The bill also expands child care availability at military bases, adds more funding to military medical facilities, improves military spouse job training programs and calls for boosting housing stipends for some families.

Those plans would add more than $24 billion to the Defense Department budget over the next five years. The Senate Armed Services Committee opted for more modest quality-of-life improvements in its initial legislative proposals, including a smaller pay raise for junior troops and studies into other reforms.

Defense Department officials have recommended waiting on major changes in military pay tables until after a Pentagon analysis on service member compensation is completed later this year. But House lawmakers in Friday’s letter said the issue cannot be pushed off any longer.

“Sudden and significant increases to the cost of living have outpaced annual military pay raises and triggered economic, food, and housing insecurity for [service members] and military families, especially within the enlisted ranks,” they wrote.

“Furthermore, as local jurisdictions increase the minimum wage in response to prevailing economic conditions, competition for military recruits will continue to intensify.”

Lawmakers from the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are working behind the scenes now on final negotiations for the authorization bill, which contains hundreds of policy changes and funding instructions for military programs.

The legislation is considered must-pass each year and will likely be voted on by both chambers in the first few weeks following Tuesday’s election. Friday’s letter appears designed to push the quality-of-life issues back into the forefront of that debate.

In a roundtable with reporters Oct. 28, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., said that negotiators are “working to get our informal conference concluded as quickly as possible, and then inform the leadership of what issues might be outstanding.” But he would not specify what those points of conflict are.

Regardless of the final negotiation results, all troops are poised to receive a 4.5% pay raise in 2025. The mark is based on the rate of civilian sector wage growth and has been already backed by House and Senate leaders, as well as the White House.

Last week, state election officials urged patience among voters waiting for the final tallies in this year’s national and local contests, noting that it could take days after the polls close before a winner will be officially declared.

“Nuances in state laws could mean in this very close election, we won’t know on election night who the president is or who controls the House or the Senate,” said Trey Grayson, the former Republican Kentucky Secretary of State and former director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.

“But we should feel confident that, over the next couple of days, we’ll work through that, and that we’re going to get there.”

Fewer vets will be on the November ballot for Congress this year

Those nuances include how states handle absentee and overseas military ballots. Only 16 states allow election workers to begin counting votes cast by mail to be processed before Election Day.

Fourteen others — including the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — can begin tallying mail-in ballots on Election Day, with some restrictions. The remaining 20 states don’t allow any work to be done on those ballots until after polls close, typically after 8 p.m. local time on election night.

“I think we’re going to have the overwhelming majority of ballots counted probably by Wednesday night or Thursday morning,” said Kathy Boockvar, former Democratic Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth, which oversees election issues. “But it’s going to take days, if not weeks, to call some races.”

Officials warned that cutting off the process early or challenging the validity of those late-counted mail-in votes risks ignoring the votes of military members forced to participate in the process from afar because of deployments.

According to estimates from the Federal Voting Assistance Program, about half of the 170,000 U.S. service members living or working overseas cast a mail-in ballot in the 2020 election.

“Like all Americans, I want to have a voice in our elections,” said Nicole Meek, an Air Force spouse working with the Secure Families Initiative on voting rights issues. “But I don’t have the same option that my friends and family have to walk into their local polling station and cast their ballot in person.

“I have to plan far in advance, pay attention to early deadlines for military voters. I update my address each time we move. I receive my ballot in advance, and then I mail it back early, hoping that it arrives by the deadline. And even if I do all of these things, even if military voters do all of these things right, military ballots will still be among the last counted.”

Officials from the initiative said they hope public education about the election process — and the different state rules regarding mail-in ballot counting — will help tamp down misinformation about the slow pace of vote totals on election night.

Republican groups have issued challenges to absentee ballot counting procedures in several states in recent weeks, although party leaders have insisted that they do not want the votes of military members disqualified amid reforms. Democratic opponents have accused them of doing exactly that with the legal moves.

Boockvar noted that in 2016, the state received only about 260,000 mail-in ballots. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, that figure jumped to more than 2.6 million. This year’s total is expected to be even higher.

“You might assume with 10 times as many ballots, it would take 10 times as long to count,” she said. “It didn’t, thanks to the incredible dedication and around-the-clock work by our local election officials. But it did still take time.”

In a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, House Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., and the House Appropriations Committee’s veterans panel Chairman John Carter, R-Texas, accused department leaders of “misinforming Congress” and “inciting a panic among veterans about their benefits being delayed or cut.” They said the misleading information undermines public faith in the institution.

In September, lawmakers approved a $3 billion stopgap spending bill for the VA after officials had warned that benefit checks could be delayed or halted on Oct. 1 — the start of the new fiscal year — if additional cash reserves were not made available to the department.

Weeks earlier, VA leaders — including McDonough — said the budget shortfall came as a result of record-high benefits approvals and medical services usage by veterans in the last fiscal year.

Congress moves to fix VA budget gap, but time is running out

They also warned that Congress needed to pass another $12 billion in funding to cover extra costs in fiscal 2025, an issue the two chambers were expected to bring up upon lawmakers’ return after the election.

But earlier this week, in an update provided to congressional leaders, VA officials said they carried over roughly $5 billion in unspent funds related to benefits accounts from last fiscal year to this fiscal year. Even without the cash infusion approved in September, the department would have held more than $2 billion in cash reserves.

Still, VA leaders said in a memo to lawmakers that the budget infusion was needed “because if we had even been $1 short, we could not certify our payment files and more than 7 million veterans and survivors would have had delays in their disability compensation, pension, and education benefits.”

In a statement Friday afternoon, VA press secretary Terrence Hayes echoed that message.

“Out of an abundance of caution last fiscal year, VA requested additional benefits funding ... Those veterans and survivors rely on those monthly payments, and any delay could have been devastating for them and their families – and that was not a risk that we were willing to take,” he said.

A VA spokesperson said that the funding was designed to avoid that kind of “worst-case scenario” and that VA carried over far less money this year than in previous years.

Still, Bost questioned whether the urgency emphasized by VA leaders in recent weeks was sincere.

“VA leaders repeatedly told us that benefits funding was on the verge of running out and veterans could be harmed,” he said in a statement separate from the letter. “But it turns out that was never true.”

In their update to Congress, VA leaders also said that department health care accounts are not draining as quickly as anticipated, although they anticipate still needing some extra funding to cover the additional workload on the system.

VA saw its highest level of health care appointments ever in fiscal 2024: about 127.5 million, up 6% over the previous fiscal year. More than 796,000 veterans have enrolled in VA health care over the last two years, up 37% over the previous two years.

But it is not clear if that influx of new patients will require the full $12 billion estimated by VA planners earlier this year.

Bost and Carter in their letter lamented the “erroneous” estimates given to lawmakers in recent months and promised a full investigation into the budgeting confusion.

Congress is expected to return to Washington later this month to finish up the current session, before newly elected members are seated in January. Unfinished work includes resolving the federal budget plan for the rest of fiscal 2025. Departments are currently operating under a short-term budget extension set to expire in December.

Here are several of the most competitive vet-versus-vet contests, and a closer look at the candidates involved:

Here are all the veterans running for Congress in 2024

Virginia 2nd House District

This southeast Virginia district — which includes Hampton Roads and a large number of military voters — has been represented by a series of veterans since 2010 and three different Navy veterans since 2016.

In 2022, Republican Rep. Jennifer Kiggans unseated former Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria in a contest that featured two former sailors. This year, Kiggans is facing Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal, another Navy veteran.

Cotter Smasal is a former Navy surface warfare officer. Kiggans is a retired Navy helicopter pilot who currently sits on the House Veterans’ Affairs and House Armed Services Committees.

The incumbent Kiggans has made her work on the veterans panel a key campaign talking point, promising better care and more accountability within the Department of Veterans Affairs. But Cotter Smasal has criticized Kiggans’ votes on limiting VA funding and restricting abortion access for military women.

The Cook Political Report rates the race as slightly favoring the Republican candidate.

Pennsylvania 17th House District

Democrats have occupied this western Pennsylvania seat since 2002, and will likely need to keep hold of it if they hope to take a majority in the chamber next year.

Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Naval Academy graduate, won the seat in 2022 by fewer than 7% of the total ballots cast and is facing a similarly tight election battle this year. His opponent, Republican Rob Mercuri, is a West Point graduate who has served in the Pennsylvania state legislature.

Both men deployed to Iraq during their military careers and have prominently featured their military service in their advertising campaigns.

Deluzio serves on the House Armed Services Committee and briefly sat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Mercuri has vowed to make reforming VA and strengthening national security key priorities if elected.

The Cook Political Report rates the race as slightly favoring the Democratic candidate.

Iowa 3rd House District

This central Iowa district has switched party control three times in the last 12 years. Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, an Air Force veteran, unseated the previous Democratic office holder in 2022. Now, Democrat Lanon Baccam, an Iowa National Guardsman, is hoping to flip it back.

Both Nunn and Baccam deployed to Afghanistan as part of their time in the military. Nunn still serves in the Iowa Air National Guard, and flew more than 700 combat hours during missions in the Middle East. Baccam served as a combat engineer, focusing on explosive demolitions.

Nunn served on the White House’s National Security Council prior to his time in Congress. Baccam worked in the Department of Agriculture, overseeing veterans programs there.

The Cook Political Report rates the race as a toss-up. All of Iowa’s four House seats and two Senate seats are currently held by Republicans, making the state a key battle point if GOP leaders hope to hold on to their House majority.

Virginia 7th House District

Of the 19 vet-versus-vet races this cycle, three are in Virginia, the most of any state. Virginia’s 7th House District, located just south of Washington, features a matchup between two challengers bidding to replace Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is running for governor of the state.

The district was held by Republicans for 46 years before Spanberger’s victory in 2018. Now, Republican Derrick Anderson and Democrat Eugene Vindman — both Army veterans — are looking to fill the vacancy.

Vindman is a former White House National Security adviser and brother of Alexander Vindman, a witness in former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. He deployed to Iraq during his military career but sparred with the Trump administration over his own role as a whistleblower in the impeachment.

Anderson deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a Green Beret. He served in the White House during the Trump administration in the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The Cook Political Report rates the race as a toss-up.

Dan Osborn, an independent candidate for one of Nebraska’s Senate seats, has been tied or leading incumbent Republican Sen. Deb Fischer in multiple recent polls. If he manages to win the closely contested race, the result could shake up the balance of power in the chamber, and establish a template for independent candidates to find success in future races.

Osborn served four years in the Navy including a tour aboard the aircraft carrier Constellation. After leaving active duty, he has served with both the Tennessee National Guard and Nebraska Army National Guard.

Here are all the veterans running for Congress in 2024

He announced his candidacy in September 2023 to little fanfare and has pledged not to caucus with either the Republicans or Democrats if he is elected, solidifying his independent message. The union leader has worked as an industrial mechanic and leaned heavily on his outsider status during his campaign.

“Less than 2% of our elected officials in the House and Senate come from the working class,” he said during a recent interview on the Independent Americans podcast about his run for office. “We’re just simply not represented. And that’s why the independent piece of the race is so important to me.

“I’m not going to be beholden to a party boss or a corporation. I’m going to be beholden to the people who elected me.”

Fischer is a two-term senator who sits on the chamber’s Armed Services Committee and has made her role in national military and veterans policy a selling point in the campaign.

But Osborn has attacked her record on those issues, including her opposition to the PACT Act in 2022. He has promised to boost troops’ pay and back more job training programs for veterans if elected.

Osborn earned the endorsement of Independent Veterans of America earlier this summer. He said his time in the service helped shape his world view and has given him a better approach to public service.

“It instills a discipline in you that never goes away,” he said on the podcast. “That has helped shape my work ethic. I have a certain level of focus that I don’t believe I would have had otherwise.”

There are no current independent House members. The Senate currently has four independent members, but only two — Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont — were elected as independents. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema both ran for office as Democrats and later switched their party affiliation.

Both Manchin and Sinema will leave the chamber at the end of this session. If Osborn upsets Fischer, he would become a key swing vote on a host of contentious Senate issues and could demand special attention from both sets of party leaders in need of an extra vote to advance their agendas.

In the last month, North Korea has sent 10,000 soldiers to eastern Russia, where they began training across three military sites. Around 2,000 of these troops have since moved west, with some receiving Russian uniforms and equipment. A smaller group has already entered the region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces seized land earlier this fall.

“There’s a good likelihood that these groups will be introduced into combat,” Austin said Wednesday, speaking alongside South Korea’s defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, who was visiting Washington.

Since publicly confirming last week that North Korea had sent forces into Russia, the Pentagon has warned Pyongyang against joining the nearly three-year war. After decades of chilly relations — including years of Russia trying to limit North Korea’s nuclear program — the two countries have warmed to each other following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

North Korea has helped supply Russia’s military with munitions and other military equipment during the war, and their two leaders have held multiple in-person summits. American officials have grown concerned about what Pyongyang is receiving in return.

That barter likely includes Russia transferring advanced technology on tactical nuclear weapons, reconnaissance satellites, intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines, said Kim, the South Korean defense minister.

“There’s also a high chance that they will try to replace their equipment” that may have grown obsolete, Kim said.

The U.S. does not have direct relations with North Korea and already has a raft of sanctions imposed on the country. Austin said the administration is working with allies on how to respond to the deployment, though he wouldn’t specify how.

“It does have the potential of lengthening the conflict or broadening the conflict if that continues,” Austin said of these troops fighting alongside Russia. If they do, he said, they would be fair targets for Ukrainian soldiers, including with American-provided weapons.

Pentagon and White House officials have argued that the deployment is a sign of “desperation” from Russia, which is suffering immense and accelerating casualties in Ukraine’s east — more than 1,000 per day with more than 600,000 during the whole war.

Austin went further Wednesday, saying the Kremlin is now asking Pyongyang for manpower to avoid another draft. Russia has been able to replace much of its losses through recruitment drives, offering higher pay and pensions, but a mobilization could be politically unpopular.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t want to mobilize, because then the people in Russia will begin to understand the extent of his losses, of their losses,” Austin said.

After Russian advances toward the key eastern city of Pokrovsk this fall, Ukraine’s defenses have held. Still, Ukraine is also taking heavy losses and has a much smaller population, making them harder to replace.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.

Tester’s reelection bid is one of the most closely watched races in the country because it could decide which party controls the Senate in 2025.

Democratic Party members currently have a one-seat advantage in the Senate but are expected to lose at least one spot due to the retirement of West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin. If Tester loses, it could swing the majority to Republicans.

Recent polls have shown the 68-year-old incumbent trailing his Republican opponent, former Army Ranger Tim Sheehy. Tester, who has served in the Senate since 2007, had considered retirement before opting to run again this cycle.

Fewer vets will be on the November ballot for Congress this year

Tester serves as both the chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s panel on defense issues. In both posts, he has been a top voice on military and veterans funding issues and was a prominent figure in advancing the sweeping PACT Act two years ago.

His departure would have significant ripple effects throughout the Senate Democratic caucus, given his committee roles and position as a moderate leader within the party.

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.

In 2022, Calvert won his reelection bid over Democrat Will Rollins by fewer than 11,000 votes, less than 5% of the total ballots cast in the race. The two will square off again this November, with polling showing an equally tight contest.

Redistricting by state officials for California’s 41st congressional district left Calvert with a less favorable election map two years ago than in his previous 14 election bids. Before 2022, Calvert — the longest-serving Republican member of California’s congressional delegation — had won each of his campaigns over the last decade by sizable margins.

Calvert serves as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s defense panel, leading debate on Defense Department funding issues. In recent years, that has included a number of social policy changes tacked onto spending bills, much to the chagrin of Democratic critics.

If he loses this cycle, it would not only mean the removal of his voice from Republican military budget debates, but it could also mean the end of the GOP majority in the House. Democratic candidates need only to pick up five seats in the chamber to gain a majority for 2025.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.

Bacon is a four-term congressman with a reputation for bipartisanship and a military background. He served for 29 years in the Air Force, including a deployment to Iraq in 2007.

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, he was tapped last year with leading the panel’s service member quality of life improvement efforts. That culminated in a lengthy report released earlier this year which called for better pay for junior troops and better support services for military families.

Some of those reforms were included in still-pending legislation before Congress this session. But other proposals are expected to be rolled into the annual defense authorization bill debate next spring.

Whether Bacon will be there to lead that debate remains to be seen. Polls have shown a close contest between him and Democratic challenger Tony Vargas. Similar to Calvert’s race, Bacon’s contest is seen as a critical win for Republicans if they hope to hold onto their majority in the House next year.

“By nearly every metric, VA is smashing records that we had set last year,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said during his annual pre-Veterans Day report on department progress at the National Press Club in Washington. “That means even more care, even more benefits to even more veterans.”

On the medical front, VA saw its highest level of health care appointments ever in fiscal 2024: about 127.5 million, up 6% over the previous fiscal year.

Some of that was driven by the 2022 adoption of the PACT Act, which eased eligibility for medical care and disability benefits for a host of military toxic exposure issues. More than 796,000 veterans have enrolled in VA health care in the last two fiscal years, up 37% from the previous 24 months.

VP Harris backs plan to provide medical care for military PFAS victims

On the benefits side, the department processed 2.5 million disability benefit claims in fiscal 2024, a 27% increase over fiscal 2023. Roughly 6.7 million veterans and survivors received $187 billion in benefits last year, another department record.

Officials also saw increases in the number of dental care appointments (6 million, up 9% over fiscal 2023), calls fielded by the Veterans Crisis Line (1.1 million, up 12% from fiscal 2023) and caregiver assistance services (88,095, up 19% from fiscal 2023).

McDonough said the high level of activity points to success in aggressive outreach efforts by the department in recent years and helps justify the growing size of the VA workforce, which topped 450,000 workers last fiscal year.

But he also said department leaders are still committed to doing more. On Tuesday, he unveiled that VA planners have started the rulemaking process to establish bladder cancer and other genitourinary tract cancers as presumptive illnesses for troops stationed at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan.

That group — more commonly known as K2 veterans — were exposed to a host of contaminants including jet fuel and lead paints during their deployments. About 12,000 of the 16,00 troops known to have served there are already enrolled in VA health care.

VA has already granted presumptive condition status for several other illnesses related to base contamination. That move makes it easier for veterans to apply for and receive disability benefits, eliminating paperwork requiring proof of a link between military service and sicknesses later.

He also promised more news soon on efforts to make leukemias and multiple myeloma a presumptive condition for troops exposed to burn pit smoke in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations around the world.

“We’re a new VA, one that works with veterans, and one that delivers outcomes for veterans,” McDonough vowed. “We will no longer take decades to consider new presumptive conditions, but will instead use the tools provided by the PACT Act to move as quickly as possible.”

The rapid expansion of services and benefits to veterans has drawn both praise and concern from lawmakers in recent months, with some questioning if VA can keep pace with their public promises.

VA officials have said they are already about $12 billion short of funding they need for fiscal 2025 to keep pace with the increase in demand from veterans and survivors. Lawmakers are expected to consider a funding boost when they return from their legislative break next month.

Senior Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday granted the release request as part of a lawsuit brought by American Oversight, a non-partisan, nonprofit group dedicated to getting the government to release records.

The group sued for the records to be made public following a Freedom of Information Act request.

“With the election just two weeks away, the American people have a clear and compelling interest in knowing how the government responded to an alleged incident involving a major presidential candidate who has a history of politicizing the military,” Chioma Chukwu, the group’s interim executive director, said in a statement following the order.

The legal fight stems from Trump’s visit to the storied military cemetery on Aug. 26.

Lawmakers demand Army sanction Trump over Arlington Cemetery visit

The former commander-in-chief and Republican nominee for president visited the site as part of an event commemorating the anniversary of the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers in a terrorist bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in 2021, during the chaotic final days of the American military mission in Afghanistan.

At the invitation of some of those survivors’ family members, Trump took part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, then visited Section 60 of the cemetery, where many troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried.

Shots of Trump smiling and giving a thumbs-up sign alongside service members’ tombstones were later used in campaign spots. In addition, Army officials said, an employee who attempted to stop campaign workers from filming in the area “was abruptly pushed aside” by a Trump campaign staffer.

That individual — who has not been publicly identified — opted not to press charges. Army officials decried the incident, since Trump was warned that “federal laws, Army regulations and DOD policies … clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.”

But they also said they would not pursue any further reprimands or punishments, and did not disclose any further details of the incident. Several Democratic lawmakers have called for a full release of the Army’s report on the visit.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and his staff has released several statements from families of fallen troops involved in the visit who praised the former president for his kindness and attention to their struggles.

Trump campaign officials also initially promised to release video proving that they followed all appropriate cemetery rules, but have thus far declined to provide any such proof.

The unreleased Army records could provide more insight into the level of confrontation between Trump staffers and cemetery staff on the day, and whether the former president helped calm or inflame the situation.

Tuesday’s court order calls for Army officials to make public “responsive, non-exempt records,” which could allow service officials to continue shielding the identity of the employee who claimed to have been assaulted.

Army officials did not provide an immediate timeline of how the information may be released to the public.

The move is a significant boost to the issue of groundwater contamination issues at bases around the country and follows on Harris’ work in President Joe Biden’s administration to better address military toxic exposure issues.

Harris’ support for the Veterans Exposed to Toxic PFAS Act — sponsored by Michigan Democrats Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Dan Kildee — came as part of a broader announcement of Latino-focused policies featured in her presidential campaign.

The legislation would require Veterans Affairs officials to provide “health care services and benefits to veterans exposed to PFAS at military installations.”

VA to research link between PFAS chemicals and kidney cancer

The chemicals — used in a host of products like water-repellent clothing and firefighting foams — have been used widely on military bases for the last 50 years and are suspected to be the cause of a host of medical complications, including testicular cancer and thyroid disease.

Last month, VA leaders announced plans to research the link between kidney cancer and exposure to the chemicals, a move that could eventually provide presumptive benefits to thousands of veterans suffering from the illness.

But the Harris-backed legislation would speed up that process, specifically designating exposure to PFAS as a service-connected injury. That distinction is key to ensure eligibility for veterans benefits.

The bill specifically singles out ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, high cholesterol and pregnancy-induced hypertension as conditions believed to be linked to PFAS exposure.

Family members of veterans stationed at bases where PFAS contamination was present could also be eligible for medical care from VA under certain conditions.

Outside advocates have estimated that as many as 700 American military bases worldwide have some level of PFAS contamination issues, potentially impacting hundreds of thousands of troops, veterans and their family members.

Officials with Harris’ campaign said she will also commission an assessment to investigate “the linkages between PFAS and illnesses impacting our service members.”

Two years ago, Biden signed the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT Act) which granted new disability benefits and medical care options to veterans who suffered illnesses from burn pit smoke, Agent Orange exposure and other chemical contaminations while in the ranks.

Those PACT Act provisions were a key focal point of Biden’s re-election campaign and have also been an issue of emphasis for Harris during military and veterans events.

President Donald Trump, Harris’ Republican opponent in the presidential campaign, has not publicly weighed in on the PFAS issue.

The assistance includes artillery and other munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons like the shoulder-launched Javelin system.

Austin announced the aid in a meeting with Zelenskyy, who last week outlined a proposal to end the war.

This “victory plan,” as Zelenskyy calls it, would require enduring Western support, particularly NATO membership and the long-term commitment of security aid. The U.S. has so far resisted issuing an immediate invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance, along with another top priority for Kyiv: the permission to fire Western weapons deep into Russian territory.

In a social media post after the meeting with Austin, Zelenskyy said that the two discussed air defense and “the expansion of long-range weapon use against Russian military targets.” In a $425 million package announced last week, the White House committed to sending “hundreds” of vital air defense interceptors in the coming months.

Despite such support, Zelenskyy’s proposal is a sign of how Ukraine views the state of the war. The Ukrainian president still publicly calls for regaining all territory lost to Russia, going back to the 2014 seizure of Crimea. But as Moscow’s forces steadily advance in eastern Ukraine and reclaim territory lost in Russia’s Kursk province, the future of the war looks increasingly bleak for Kyiv.

In an October briefing, senior Pentagon officials said Russia’s casualties were accelerating in the east and had reached 600,000 throughout the war.

Austin’s trip to Kyiv marks his fourth visit to Ukraine and likely his last as secretary of defense. Aiding Ukraine’s defense has been a signature achievement during his tenure. The U.S. has sent Ukraine over $61 billion in security aid in the last two and a half years, and Austin has helped coordinate the assistance of other countries through a monthly forum held in Ramstein, Germany.

In a media roundtable Friday morning, officials from the Vet Voice Foundation — which works closely with the Democratic Party — criticized lawsuits in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan filed by the Republican National Committee questioning the integrity of overseas ballots and suggesting that some could be fraudulent.

The Pennsylvania suit alleges that state officials have moved “to exempt [overseas voters] entirely from any verification requirements,” calling it “an illegally structured election process.”

Six Republican members of Congress from Pennsylvania signed onto the legal challenge. One of those, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, said in a statement that the current process is “unlawfully diluting the rightful ballots of the brave men and women who serve our nation and their family members” by allowing questionable ballots.

Trump claims Dems will ‘cheat’ using military, overseas ballot system

Party officials have said they are not trying to block military votes from overseas, and do not believe the election challenges will have that effect.

But Democratic critics said their political opponents have not provided any evidence of fraud in the overseas voting process, and said they believe the real intent of the lawsuits is to cause confusion and distrust.

“Teams of people from both parties go through a meticulous list of steps to verify the vote count and check for accuracy,” said Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation. “These baseless allegations undermine public trust in our election system, and worse, target the very people who have sworn to protect our Constitution.”

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, passed in 1986, requires that states provide a system for military members, their eligible family and overseas citizens to vote absentee in federal elections.

Nearly 3 million U.S. citizens living abroad are eligible to vote in the November 2024 elections. Less than 4% of that total voted in the 2022 U.S. elections.

Rules regarding absentee ballots vary by state, but generally must be received by Election Day to be counted.

“Each state, including Pennsylvania, has strict laws governing voter registration, verification and ballot transmission to ensure that only eligible citizens vote,” Goldbeck said. “The idea that this process lacks oversight is simply untrue.”

Nearly all overseas ballots have already been mailed out, further complicating questions about eligibility and election security. It’s unclear whether any of the lawsuits will be settled or dismissed ahead of Election Day, which is Nov. 5.

That’s one of the preliminary findings from Army researchers conducting baseline cognitive screenings in an effort to better track — and prevent — brain injuries among troops.

The project, which kicked off in August, created a database of troops’ normal brain functions to provide health officials with a baseline to compare against soldier brains following long deployments, head trauma or other potential damaging incidents. Officials are currently screening new enlistees and individuals in some high-risk jobs, with the goal of reaching all troops by fall 2026.

The service also plans to re-screen soldiers every few years.

“There are times that service members may sustain or have a cognitive change that they have not even recognized yet,” Dr. Steven Porter, a neuroscientist at the U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General working on the project, said Tuesday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference. “What the testing will be able to do for us is to identify that change and catch it early, so we can prevent any sort of ongoing or continued injury.”

Army launches cognitive screening to track new soldiers’ brain health

The project is still in its early phases, so plans for new training schedules, new equipment development and new recovery programs for injured troops are still mostly theoretical.

But Sgt. Maj. Chris McNamara, human weapon system expert at Army Special Operations Command, told reporters during a presentation at the AUSA conference that preliminary data from blast sensors and brain screenings have started to show activities that cause low-level problems in troops’ heads, giving commanders tools to intervene early.

“When we used to go to our shooting ranges, we would stack [those sessions] all together so that you got training density,” he said. “Now most of our leaders, because they have better decision support tools with a blast profile, spread that out. Now it’s one day every week. And the blast density is lower, and they get more time to recover.”

Col. Jama VanHorne-Sealy, director of the Army’s Occupational Health Directorate, said officials hope to release a new servicemember brain health strategy next spring.

“What that strategy seeks to do is to address the brain health needs of the warfighter, to optimize brain health in multiple environments … and to address the readiness of the force and force health protection against known and emerging hazards,” she said.

“It’s important for the Department of Defense and for the Army to have solutions that really allow us to do the best that we can, to triage personnel, to diagnose folks in austere environments so that we can make smart practice decisions about how to best take care of warfighters.”

From 2000 to 2022, nearly 460,000 servicemembers were diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury during training or in combat, according to the Defense Department Inspector General. Officials said finding ways to treat those issues earlier could result in long-term benefits for individuals and force readiness.

The book — which Trump has already publicly decried — also details extensive death threats by Trump supporters against former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley after he had a public falling out with the commander-in-chief.

Milley also expressed concern that Trump could recall him to active duty to put him on trial for treason if he is re-elected to office, a plan that Woodward writes Trump considered for other critical former military leaders during his first term in the White House.

“No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump,” Milley told Woodward in a 2023 interview for the book, entitled “War,” a copy of which was obtained by Military Times ahead of its release this week.

Milley says he’ll ensure family safety after Trump’s execution remark

The volume chronicles the end of Trump’s presidency and the last four years of Joe Biden’s time as commander-in-chief. It’s critical of both men but more so of Trump, suggesting that numerous military leaders worry about his potential return to the Oval Office.

Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, said in a statement to the Associated Press that none of the stories in Woodward’s books are true and called the publication “the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

Woodward in the book that Milley paid to install bulletproof glass and blast-proof curtains at his home because of threats stemming from Trump supporters, even though he has been given around-the-clock security from federal agencies since his military retirement.

He also detailed to Woodward multiple behind-the-scenes incidents where Trump asked to use U.S. military forces on American soil, potentially in violation of federal law.

This weekend, during a Fox News interview, Trump suggested he may use National Guard and active-duty military forces against “radical left lunatics” he claims are working to undermine stability in America. He has also suggested using the military to respond to immigration problems.

Mattis served as secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019, one of five men to serve in the post during Trump’s four years in the White House. Woodward writes that Mattis viewed Trump as erratic, and worried that he may order drastic military action without fully considering the consequences.

Woodward has previously written four books about the Trump presidency, to which the former president has largely had negative reactions.

Justices likely won’t rule on the case — Bufkin v. McDonough — for months. But the issues involved are being closely monitored by veterans advocates and Department of Veterans Affairs leaders, given the potential changes mandated by the eventual decision.

At issue is how the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and other judicial review boards must interpret the “benefit of the doubt” rule regarding veterans disability claims. Under federal statute, VA adjudicators are required to rule in favor of veterans applying for benefits support “when there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence.”

Advocates have long argued that VA does not follow that standard, requiring veterans to prove their injuries and eligibility beyond doubt to receive payouts.

Supreme Court rules in favor of veteran who sued over GI Bill limits

In 2002, Congress passed legislation requiring the Veterans Appeals Court to ensure the “benefit of the doubt” rule was followed properly in the disability claims process. But court officials have argued that only applies in cases of clear errors, and does not mandate a full review of the case evidence.

The case before the Supreme Court centers on two veterans: Joshua Bufkin, who served in the Air Force from 2005 and 2006, and Norman Thornton, who served in the Army from 1988 to 1991. Both men applied for disability benefits related to injuries they say occurred while serving.

Bufkin was denied a claim for post-traumatic stress disorder, while Thornton was granted a 10% rating for the same condition. Both appealed the decisions and lost.

Lawyers for the men said that subsequent judicial reviews did not conduct a full review of the case, to include whether the “benefit of the doubt” standard was followed. A federal appeals court ruled two years ago that such a move was not needed.

In arguments before the Supreme Court Tuesday, Melanie Bostwick, counsel for the plaintiffs, said that the language adopted by Congress clearly mandates that an appeals panel “has to do a check and make sure that the decisions that it is about to affirm complied with the law.”

But lawyers for the government argued that requiring a full additional review of evidence would be duplicative and inefficient.

In a supporting brief filed ahead of Wednesday’s arguments, officials from the National Veterans Legal Services Program lamented that federal officials’ current practices “have ensured that it is the agency that gets the benefit of the doubt, not veterans … it exacerbates the very problems Congress sought to solve through its [legislation].”

Similarly, officials from Disabled American Veterans offered support for the plaintiffs and said the case “presents a question that is important to the nation’s disabled veterans and their families,” calling the current review procedures “troubling.”

A final decision on the case is expected from the Supreme Court next spring.

The upgrades were announced Tuesday morning by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said the effort was undertaken “to redress the harms done by ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and other policies on these former service members.”

The review was prompted by complaints among veterans that the process for upgrading discharge status was overly complicated and adversarial.

The changes mean that those veterans for the first time will be able to access certain VA education, health and financial benefits, a potential windfall for them and their families.

The military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy was put in place in 1993 as a compromise to allow some level of military service for gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals. But advocates said the policy was enforced erratically and discriminatorily, and forced those troops to keep secrets about their personal lives from friends and commanders, to the detriment of unit cohesiveness.

Pentagon to revisit ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ discharges

Nearly 13,500 service members were forced out of the military under the policy, according to Defense Department records.

The policy was repealed in 2011, allowing LGBT individuals to serve openly in the ranks for the first time. In his statement Tuesday, Austin said that because of military review policies in recent years, 96% of the individuals forced out of the service under the law have now been awarded honorable discharge status.

“We will continue to honor the service and the sacrifice of all our troops, including the brave Americans who raised their hands to serve but were turned away because of whom they love,” he said. “We will continue to strive to do right by every American patriot who has honorably served their country.”

Defense officials said individuals eligible for upgrades because of the most recent review will be contacted by department staffers on next steps for getting appropriate paperwork and benefits applications.

He has pledged to recall thousands of American troops from overseas and station them at the U.S. border with Mexico. He has explored using troops for domestic policy priorities such as deportations and confronting civil unrest. He has talked of weeding out military officers who are ideologically opposed to him.

Trump's vision amounts to a potentially dramatic shift in the role of the military in U.S. society, carrying grave implications for both the country's place in the world and the restraints that have traditionally been placed on domestic use of the military.

Trump pledges to revert Fort Liberty to Confederate general name

As Trump’s campaign heads into its final stretch against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, he is promising forceful action against immigrants who do not have permanent legal status. Speaking in Colorado on Friday, the Republican described the city of Aurora as a “war zone” controlled by Venezuelan gangs, even though authorities say that was a single block of the Denver suburb, and the area is safe again.

“I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered,” Trump said at the rally. “We will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country.”

In an interview aired on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump was asked about the potential of “outside agitators” disrupting Election Day and he pivoted to what he called “the enemy from within.”

“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” Trump said. He added: “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

Trump has repeatedly invoked the phrase “enemy from within” in recent speeches. On Saturday, he used it to refer to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a prominent Trump critic who oversaw the congressional investigation that led to Trump's first impeachment. Schiff is now running for the Senate.

The former president and his advisers are developing plans to shift the military’s priorities and resources, even at a time when wars are raging in Europe and the Middle East. Trump’s top priority in his platform, known as Agenda 47, is to implement hardline measures at the U.S.-Mexico border by “moving thousands of troops currently stationed overseas” to that border. He is also pledging to “declare war” on cartels and deploy the Navy in a blockade that would board and inspect ships for fentanyl.

Trump also has said he will use the National Guard and possibly the military as part of the operation to deport millions of immigrants who do not have permanent legal status.

While Trump’s campaign declined to discuss the details of those plans, including how many troops he would shift from overseas assignments to the border, his allies are not shy about casting the operation as a sweeping mission that would use the most powerful tools of the federal government in new and dramatic ways.

“There could be an alliance of the Justice Department, Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. Those three departments have to be coordinated in a way that maybe has never been done before,” said Ron Vitiello, who worked as the acting director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement under Trump.

While both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations have long used military resources at the border, the plans would be a striking escalation of the military’s involvement in domestic policy.

Advocates for human rights and civil liberties have grown alarmed.

“They are promising to use the military to do mass raids of American families at a scale that harkens back to some of the worst things our country has done,” said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, an immigration advocacy organization.

In Congress, which has the power to restrict the use of military force through funding and other authorizations, Republicans are largely on board with Trump's plans.

“The reason I support Donald Trump is he will secure the border on Day 1. Now that could be misinterpreted as being a dictator. No, he’s got to secure the border,” said Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Many Republicans argue that Trump’s rhetoric on immigration reflects reality and points to the need for military action.

“There is a case that this is an invasion,” said North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “You look at 10 million people, many of which are not here for a better future, and, unfortunately, it’s made it necessary. This is a problem that the Biden administration and Harris administration have created.”

Still, Trump’s plans to move military assets from abroad could further inflame tension within the GOP between those hawkish on foreign policy and Republicans who promote Trump’s brand of “America First” isolationism.

Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, insisted Trump would not move active-duty troops to the border, even though Trump’s platform clearly states he would.

In the Senate, where more traditional Republicans still hold sway, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, issued a statement encouraging the Department of Defense to assist with border security, but adding that the effort “needs to be led by the Department of Homeland Security.”

Trump’s designs for the military may not stop at the border.

As Trump completes a campaign marked by serious threats to his life, his aides already made an unusual request for military aircraft to transport him amid growing concerns over threats from Iran.

During his first term while riots and protests against police brutality roiled the nation, Trump also pushed to deploy military personnel. Top military officers, such as then- Gen. Mark Milley, resisted those plans, including issuing a memo that stressed that every member of the military “swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution and the values embedded within it.”

Trump’s potential actions would likely require him to invoke wartime or emergency powers, such as carrying out mass deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law, or quelling unrest under the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that allows a president to deploy the military domestically and against U.S. citizens. It was last used by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 during rioting in Los Angeles after police officers beat the Black motorist Rodney King.

Ahead of a potential second term for Trump, Democrats in Congress tried to update presidential powers like the Insurrection Act but found little success.

That’s left them instead issuing dire warnings that Trump now has fewer guardrails on how he could use the military. He has shown an ability to bend institutions to his goals, from a Supreme Court willing to reconsider long-standing interpretations of presidential powers to a military scrubbed of officers and leaders likely to push back on his plans.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who introduced legislation to update the Insurrection Act, said the plans “illuminate Donald Trump’s total misunderstanding of the United States military as a force for national defense, not for his personal preferences to demagogue an issue.”

But Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, underscored how many in his party have grown comfortable with deploying the military to confront illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

“Whatever fixes the border, I think we’re OK with,” he said.

Veterans Affairs leaders and congressional officials in recent years have pointed to the proposed medical lease sites as a valuable tool in expanding care options for veterans.

But the roughly $670 million set aside by lawmakers for those 15 projects was not enough to pay for the planned spaces, according to preliminary bids. And since getting that news, officials for months have been unable to move ahead on the process for getting new bids on the projects, largely due to behind-the-scenes concerns over pricing guidelines.

The stalled projects are located in 12 different states, including two in Texas and three in Florida. Fourteen are potential new outpatient clinics, while one in Tampa, Fla., is a planned community living center.

Vets’ PACT Act claims continue to rise, two years after law’s passage

As part of the PACT Act — sweeping veterans benefits legislation signed into law in August 2022 — Congress authorized and funded 31 new major VA leases, designed to expand medical and support service options for veterans across the country. In all, the projects were expected to provide 2.8 million square feet of additional health care space and serve more than 3.6 million veterans in coming years.

At the time of the legislation’s passage, VA officials touted the authorizations as a win for veterans, allowing planners to move faster in creating new medical spaces than the traditional construction and facility acquisition process.

Since June 2023, one lease has been awarded and 15 more are in the final steps of being approved, according to department officials.

VA press secretary Terrence Hayes acknowledged that “for the remaining 15 leases, VA has received offers that exceeded authorized funding levels, which VA cannot accept under law.”

That means officials will have to rework and resubmit those proposals to lawmakers with new parameters and cost guidelines before moving ahead. Congressional committees will have to grant final approval on any substantial changes before they can proceed.

Hayes said the money set aside for the work does not expire, so the delays do not endanger funding for the projects.

But individuals familiar with the process told Military Times that VA and Office of Management and Budget officials have been sparring since early spring over methodology for calculating rates and cost adjustments, a bureaucratic fight that has set back the project.

OMB officials did not return requests for comment on the matter. VA officials would not comment on correspondence with OMB leaders.

The technical fight has repeatedly pushed back opportunities to move ahead with the search for new locations for the clinics, even as VA officials have emphasized the need for more medical options for veterans. Congressional staff said they expected the new leases to be submitted for approval months ago, and are unsure exactly where VA and the White House stand in the current process.

If the new leases aren’t approved by the end of the year, the process could be forced to start over completely under a new administration and Congress, pending the results of the November elections.

That could mean months more waiting for the leases to be approved and even longer for facility staff opening doors to provide care to veterans. As it stands, even if the projects do move ahead in the next few weeks, it’s unlikely that doors for the new clinics will open before mid-2025.

Hayes said department leaders remain “fully committed to providing timely access to world-class care at these sites, and we are exploring all possible options, including working with Congress, to move forward on these leases.”

VA officials have not released completion dates for any of the PACT Act lease projects, or when they expect to resubmit paperwork to Congress on the problematic ones.