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USA Today
Several prominent veterans' groups held a rare, joint news conference calling for an end to the government shutdown, saying tens of thousands of veterans in the federal workforce are facing increasingly difficult financial hardships as they continue to go without pay.
The agencies affected by the shutdown employ at least 150,000 veterans, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget. "We ask the president and the Congress to get together, get your act together and get this situation resolved," said Regis "Rege" Riley, national commander of American Veterans, or AMVETS.
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Military Times
Some charities, banks and credit unions are stepping up to help certain Coast Guard members and other federal workers who are on the verge of financial straits because of the partial government shutdown, which means a missed Jan. 15 paycheck.
While the Defense Department is not part of the shutdown, and Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy service members are being paid, as well as DoD civilians, the Coast Guard is not part of DoD, and is affected. An unknown number of military spouses and veterans also work for various other federal agencies that are part of the shutdown, and won't receive paychecks.
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Military.com
The Agriculture Department has issued assurances that funding is in place to continue its food stamp program through February, despite the partial government shutdown. Thousands of active-duty troops and an estimated 1.4 million veterans benefit from the program.
Agriculture Department funding expired Dec. 21 with the onset of the shutdown, but officials announced Wednesday that full benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will continue through February.
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Military Times Rebootcamp
Everyone needs seed money to start a business. But veteran entrepreneurs usually have a harder time getting financing than their nonveteran counterparts, a new study finds.
Veterans had to submit more applications to get approved for loans and other types of financing, and when they eventually were approved, it was often for less money than they were seeking, according to data from the latest annual Federal Reserve Banks’ Small Business Credit Survey.
Why are vet entrepreneurs falling behind? The authors of a new report, "Veteran Entrepreneurs and Capital Access," which was released by the Small Business Administration and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York this month, have a few theories.
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Providence Journal
VA Secretary Robert Wilkie in an op-ed piece published Jan. 14 and available online at https://fxn.ws/2Rrc9l9, states that the "VA has done more in the last two years than it has in decades in reforming the department and improving care and benefits for our nation’s heroes."
The VA, Wilkie says, has made progress, particularly in the areas of accountability, transparency and efficiency across the department including giving choice in care to veterans through the MISSION Act. To streamline VA's community care programs, President Donald Trump signed the VA MISSION Act into legislation on June 6, 2018, providing more choices and robust care coordination for veterans using one consolidated program. The previous multiple programs and eligibility requirements were confusing for veterans, community providers, and VA staff.
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Military.com
With the federal deficit expected to top $1 trillion this year, the Congressional Budget Office in December published a list of options for reducing the imbalance over the next 10 years, including three suggestions on Tricare and six that address veterans benefits.
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WCAX
Vermont Congressman Peter Welch says it's time for lawmakers to take action to protect soldiers from the harm caused by burn pits in war zones. A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling halted lawsuits against a military contractor accused of wrongdoing by military families.
The lawsuits claim the burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq led to health problems for thousands of military members who breathed in smoke that hung over bases.
The activity has gone on for years and some are calling the burn pits the new agent orange.
A WCAX investigation revealed that many Vermonters also got sick, and they, too, blame the burn pits.
Welch is now pushing to get exposure to burn pits to qualify as a disability.
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Inside Higer Ed
Hundreds of college programs that enroll military service members and veterans have gone years without adequate oversight to determine if they are delivering quality education, according to a recent audit by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. As a result, more than $1.54 million in federal tuition and fee payments have gone to "ineligible or potentially ineligible" colleges participating in the Post-9/11 GI Bill program.
The colleges were part of a statistical sample of education programs reviewed as part of the audit, which "estimated that the risk of improper payments was particularly high at for-profit schools." The audit found that for-profit institutions received $1.5 million of the improper payments.
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By Karen Harrison
 In an effort that sounds like it came straight from a science-fiction movie, the Department of Defense has announced it's exploring the use of genetically altered marine life forms to track enemy subs. The effort is part of a $45 billion initiative begun in 2017 and dubbed the Applied Research for the Advancement of Science and Technology Priorities Program on Synthetic Biology for Military Environments. According to researchers at the Naval Research Laboratory, the program would use a relatively common type of sea life, altering its genetic makeup to make it "extra sensitive" to markers left by passing subs.
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