Lawmakers and senior military leaders say that military pay needs to be based more on the role and responsibilites of troops, and not simply their age. The Pentagon is operating under its third continuing resolution of fiscal 2024 as Congress continues to draft defense spending legislation. Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of Oct. 30, 2023. Senate lawmakers are pushing VA officials to look into toxic exposure injuries among troops who deployed to Kosovo. Democratic lawmakers decried the move as a childish political attack. A niche appropriations debate on multiyear munitions buys has ballooned into one of the numerous partisan standoffs over the defense spending bill. The $826-billion GOP bill to fund the Defense Department faces opposition from all House Democrats and a handful of key Republican lawmakers. Congress' dysfunction is taking its toll on national security as a government shutdown looms and hundreds of officers can't take their posts. Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of Sept. 18, 2023. Multiple House lawmakers expressed doubt that the expensive vets records project can be saved. Load More