Tag: 2025

VA updates FY 2025 health care budget shortfall to $6.6B, nearly half its previous estimate

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The Department of Veterans Affairs is cutting its request for additional funding by almost half after officials told lawmakers last week that a shortfall in its health care budget wasn’t as severe as earlier estimates showed. The VA is now asking Congress for a $ 6.6 billion supplement to its fiscal 2025 budget to keep providing more health care to more veterans than ever before. Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said in an interview Tuesday that the PACT Act, which expands eligibility for VA health care and benefits to…

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Today’s Flashback: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Left the Door Open” on Project 2025

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following Monday’s National Conservatism Conference, MoveOn Political Action slammed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for previous statements supporting the Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank behind Project 2025, the extremist policy proposals for a second Donald Trump administration.  The Deseret News reported that RFK Jr. “left the door open” on Project 2025 and said, “I’ll be interested in talking to everybody.” He also keeps a copy of Heritage’s “Mandate for Leadership” conveniently located on his desk. That doesn’t seem like reference material a so-called “independent” candidate would need…

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Flurry of House activity on 2025 federal spending, but not much bipartisanship

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In the House, it’s one down and 11 to go for the appropriations bills that make up the federal budget for 2025. And lawmakers are set to make a lot of progress over the next several weeks, with an aggressive schedule of votes coming up. Loren Duggan is Deputy News Director at Bloomberg Government spoke with Federal News Network’s Jared Serbu on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. Interview Transcript:  Loren Duggan This is the latest week that’s very spending focused in the House. As you mentioned, three of the…

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Proposed 2% federal pay raise gets support in 2025 defense authorization bill

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With both Senate and House lawmakers advancing legislation that aligns with President Joe Biden’s 2% federal pay raise request, civilian federal employees appear to be a step closer to a smaller pay bump for 2025. The Senate Armed Services Committee’s version of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act last week showed support for a 2% raise for DoD civilian workers and a 4.5% raise for military members. In a vote of 22-3 on June 13, committee lawmakers advanced the 2025 NDAA to the full Senate for consideration. The House…

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Looking ahead to the no-surprise, likely-late 2025 federal spending bills

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It is budget season on Capitol Hill and agency leaders are busy defending their 2025 spending plans in front of the appropriations committees. And it’s possible the House could finish its appropriations bills this summer. But it’s still very unlikely we’ll have a full budget passed before the end of the fiscal year. For more on where things stand, Federal News Network’s Deputy Editor Jared Serbu spoke with longtime budget watcher Larry Allen on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin . He’s president of Allen Federal Business Partners. Interview Transcript:  Larry…

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Passing 2025 defense spending bill will be ‘particularly difficult’

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While passing the 2024 defense budget was arduous as lawmakers struggled to agree on government funding plans for nearly six months into the fiscal year, negotiating the 2025 defense spending is shaping up to be “particularly difficult.” The Pentagon proposed a fiscal 2025 budget of $ 849.8 billion, about 1% higher than this year’s budget request. The top line figure aligns with the Fiscal Responsibility Act passed last year, which sets limits on defense and non-defense discretionary spending. Defense officials said the 1% increase would not be enough to cover…

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