Denis McDonough

Nicole Leger works from her home office Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, in Lithia, Fla. Hundreds of thousands of veterans have received additional benefits, including Leger, in the past year after President Joe Biden signed legislation expanding coverage for conditions connected to burn pits that were used to destroy trash and potentially toxic materials. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Veterans see historic expansion of benefits for toxic exposure as new law nears anniversary

Hundreds of thousands of veterans have received additional benefits in the past year after President Joe Biden signed legislation expanding coverage for conditions connected to burn pits that were used to destroy trash and potentially toxic materials.
 
FILE - The Veterans Affairs Department is shown on June 21, 2013, in Washington. The Veterans' Affairs Department on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, announced three grants to help veterans who are homeless or who are at risk of losing their homes. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

Tally of homeless veterans fell 11%, biggest drop in 5 years

 
First lady Jill Biden, walks in the East Room with little caregivers, standing in front from left to right, Gabby and Eva Rodriguez, and Mason, during a ceremony at the White House honoring children in military and veteran caregiving families, Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Jill Biden honors kids of injured troops as ‘hidden heroes’

 
FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, file photo, Secretary of Veterans Affairs nominee Denis McDonough speaks during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on Capitol Hill, in Washington. In an announcement Saturday, June 19, 2021, McDonough said that the Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to offer transgender veterans gender confirmation surgery. (Sarah Silbiger/Pool Photo via AP, File)

VA moves to offer gender confirmation surgery to vets

 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough speaks about veterans' frustrations over turnover at the agency following a listening session at Montana State University-Billings in Billings, Mont., Monday, April 5, 2021. McDonough was visiting Montana on his first official trip since his Feb. 8 confirmation. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

VA Secretary McDonough tours Montana with Sen. Tester

 

First year of PACT Act brings in record claims

Hundreds of thousands of veterans have received additional benefits in the last year after President Joe Biden signed legislation expanding coverage for conditions connected to burn pits, which were used to destroy trash and potentially toxic materials. (Aug. 6)

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Sioux Falls VA Healthcare leader reassigned amid complaints

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The director of the Sioux Falls VA Healthcare System has been reassigned following a multitude of complaints about mismanagement.
 

Sununu: Veterans Affairs denying it requested 500M gloves

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Gov. Chris Sununu asked the Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday to “follow through on their promise” to purchase millions of heavy duty rubber gloves procured by a New Hampshire company in response to a pandemic-related request for personal protective equipment.
 
Former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, the Biden administration's choice to be veterans affairs secretary, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Biden: Cabinet picks from Obama era mean ‘bold new thinking’

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden on Friday introduced a series of key picks for his new government that drew heavily from the Obama administration, saluting their “deep experience” while insisting he could rely on them for “bold new thinking.”
 
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris arrive at an event to introduce their nominees and appointees to economic policy posts at The Queen theater, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Election 2020 Today: Biden’s Obama redux; GOP bands together

Here’s what’s happening Friday in Election 2020 and President-elect Joe Biden’s transition.

TODAY’S TOP STORIES:
 
FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2020 file photo, former national security adviser Susan Rice takes part in a discussion on global leadership at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. President-elect Joe Biden is naming Susan Rice as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. The role will give her broad sway over his administration’s approach to immigration, health care and racial inequality and elevates the prominence of the position in the West Wing. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Obama reunion? Biden fills Cabinet with former WH leaders

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is getting the old gang back together.

Increasingly deep into the process of selecting Cabinet members and other senior staff, the incoming Biden administration has a distinctly Obama feel.
 
FILE - In this March 28, 2014, file photo, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough speaks during a retirement ceremony at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland. President-elect Joe Biden is nominating former President Barack Obama's White House chief of staff Denis McDonough as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The sprawling agency has presented organizational challenges for both parties over the years. Biden is continuing to stockpile his administration with prominent alumni of the Obama administration(AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool)

Biden taps Rice as domestic policy adviser, McDonough for VA

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is naming Susan Rice as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, giving her broad sway over his administration’s approach to immigration, health care and racial inequality and elevating the prominence of the position in the West Wing.
 

Denis McDonough says Mitch McConnell ‘watered down’ Russia election meddling response

Denis McDonough, President Obama’s former chief of staff, on Sunday blamed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for a “watered down” congressional response to reports of foreign election interference in September 2016.
 

The Latest: Susan Rice to talk to Senate intel panel

7:40 p.m.
 

White House chief of staff shoulders blame for Paris snub

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House chief of staff is taking the blame for not having a top-level official at an anti-terror solidarity rally earlier this month in Paris.