DENIS MCDONOUGH

President Joe Biden has signed veterans health care legislation that ends a long battle to expand benefits for troops who served near toxic “burn pits.”.

It’s back to the White House balcony and the Treaty Room for President Joe Biden as he contends with a “rebound” case of COVID-19.

Ever since GOP senators reversed their vote, veterans and activists have stayed by the Capitol's steps, pleading for a bill that would expand their health care.

Veterans Affairs faces a major expansion of benefits and big modernization issues as top positions remain long vacant. One nomination seems doomed.

VA would finally catch up to modern private hospitals, saving billions of dollars from it spends each year to shore up its aging health-care facilities, proponents of the plan argued. AdvertisementThe lawmakers indicated that the politically explosive recommendations VA made in March made moving forward impractical. She noted that the median age of VA hospitals is nearly 60 years. Robert Wilkie, President Donald Trump’s second VA secretary, also expressed disappointment with this week’s decision. Veterans’ care will be degraded by a lack of technology and unsanitary conditions while construction costs go through the roof.”GiftOutline Gift Article

At the annual gathering of the American Federation of Government Employees, one of the biggest federal unions, leaders were full of praise for Biden's pro-union moves — but also slammed two agencies for holding onto Trump's anti-labor edicts.

Overall, VA’s reliance on inpatient care would taper off as the system catches up to an outpatient model that private hospitals moved toward decades ago. According to the agency’s budget submission to Congress for fiscal 2022, the health system needs $61.6 billion worth of construction today. “These facilities were not designed to meet modern health care standards, which limits VA’s agility and ability to meet evolving Veteran care needs, and basic environment of care expectations,” the report said. All of these shifts “will have significant effects on health care planning efforts,” the report said. VA has redirected billions of dollars from veterans’ hospitals to private health-care providers in recent years in a controversial transformation.

President Joe Biden says U.S. veterans are the “backbone, the spine, the sinew” of the nation, as he pushes for better help for members of the military who face health problems after exposure to burn pits and other hazards.

The executive order will also extend to contractors that work with the U.S. government.

The Department of Health and Human Services will require nearly a third of its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine while the Department of Veterans Affairs expanded its vaccination mandate.

The Department of Health and Human Services will require nearly a third of its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine while the Department of Veterans Affairs expanded its vaccination mandate.

The VA is extending that requirement to cover a wider range of workers and volunteers at VA health facilities.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will begin processing disability claims Aug. 2 for asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis on a presumptive basis based on presumed particulate matter exposures during military service in Southwest Asia and certain other areas — if these conditions manifested within 10 years of a qualifying period of military service.

Veteran Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough described the new measure as "the best way to keep Veterans safe."

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for all the federal agency’s health care personnel and is imposing a two-month deadline for those employees to get vaccinated.

The VA cited the rise of the Delta variant, and recent deaths of unvaccinated employees.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has became the first major federal agency to require health care workers to get COVID-19 vaccines.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in prepared remarks that the move was "the right thing to do."

Veterans Affairs officials announce they will cover surgery for trans veterans for the first time.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is moving to offer transgender veterans gender confirmation surgery.

American Rescue Plan will reduce backlog of compensation and pension claims "by more than half," Veterans Affairs secretary says The United States Department of Veterans Affairs saw its backlog of compensation and pension claims rise from 76,000 in March 2020 to more than 200,000 this month. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough joins CBSN's "Red & Blue" anchor Elaine Quijano with more on how President Biden's American Rescue Plan will help reduce the backlog, and how the department is preparing for a surge of requests for medical care from veterans who may have postponed treatment during the pandemic.

Sen. Thom Tillis has prostate cancer and will undergo surgery next week to treat it, he announced Monday. "I am in the hands of outstanding medical professionals and expect to make a full recovery," the North Carolina Republican said in a statement. Tillis traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border last week with a group of Republican senators. It is unclear whether Tillis will miss any votes in the Senate, where each major party holds 50 seats. Before winning election to the Senate in 2014, Tillis served as speaker in the North Carolina state House.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)NEW YORK – Fully vaccinated Americans can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing, according to long-awaited guidance from federal health officials. The CDC is continuing to recommend that fully vaccinated people still wear well-fitted masks, avoid large gatherings, and physically distance themselves from others when out in public. The CDC guidance did not speak to people who may have gained some level of immunity from being infected, and recovering from, the coronavirus. AdOfficials say a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required dose of vaccine. But some people who are fully vaccinated were pleased by Monday's news.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs nominee Denis McDonough speaks during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Washington. (Sarah Silbiger/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – The Senate has overwhelmingly voted to confirm President Joe Biden’s pick to oversee the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Senate confirmed Denis McDonough as VA secretary by a vote of 87-7 on Monday. McDonough will oversee a sprawling agency that has presented organizational challenges for both parties over the years. McDonough replaces Robert Wilkie, who served as VA secretary under President Donald Trump.

Confronting a legacy of racism at the Department of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough is poised to become the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, pending a full confirmation vote from the Senate. One issue he’s likely to face is pressure to address the department’s legacy of racism. Jasper Craven, a freelance investigative reporter, joined “CBSN AM” to discuss.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)WASHINGTON – Shortly after President-elect Joe Biden’s victory last month, Cabinet hopeful Marcia Fudge pointedly noted that Black people are often typecast into positions such as housing secretary. He’s pledged to nominate the most diverse Cabinet in history and restore experience at beleaguered federal agencies. The GOP has barely acknowledged Biden's victory so the cooperation of its senators in the confirmation process is far from certain. “That’s why we are worried.”One prominent feature of Biden’s picks so far: deep ties to the Obama administration. Brent Colburn, a former Obama administration official who served in several agencies, encouraged Democrats to consider the bigger picture as they judge Biden's Cabinet.

“It is unfair to expect accountability from the nearly 400,000 VA employees and not demand the same from its top executive. Wilkie and other senior officials had declined to fully cooperate with the investigation by VA Inspector General Michael Missal. Wilkie is Trump’s second VA secretary after David Shulkin was fired in 2018. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to rebuild trust in the VA when he takes office on Jan. 20. He has selected Denis McDonough, who served as President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff, to be VA secretary.

“The accountability, professionalism and respect that our veterans have earned, and quite frankly deserve, is completely lost in this current VA leadership team,” said B.J. Wilkie and other senior officials had declined to fully cooperate with the investigation by VA Inspector General Michael Missal. Wilkie is President Donald Trump’s second VA secretary after David Shulkin was fired in 2018. “VA can and must do better,” said Randy Reese, executive director of Disabled American Veterans’ Washington headquarters. He has selected Denis McDonough, who served as President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff, to be VA secretary.

Susan Rice, the Biden administration's choice to lead the White House Domestic Policy Council, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. His choice for agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, served in the same post for Obama for eight years. Above all, they know how government should and can work for all Americans.”Relying too heavily on Obama administration veterans has already begun to draw some grumbling from members of Biden's own party, however. Mark Riddle, a Democratic strategist who founded a pro-Biden Super PAC during the 2020 presidential campaign, said there is no danger in relying too heavily on “all star” former Obama administration leaders. “If we come out of the box on jobs, jobs, jobs, I feel great.

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. Increasingly deep into the process of selecting Cabinet members and other senior staff, the incoming Biden administration has a distinctly Obama feel. There's Denis McDonough, former President Barack Obama's chief of staff who Biden announced on Thursday would be nominated as the secretary of veterans affairs. Susan Rice, Obama's former U.N. ambassador and national security adviser, was named the director of Biden's White House Domestic Policy Council. Jeff Zients, who did stints as acting Office of Management and Budget director and a top economic adviser in the Obama White House, will return as Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator.

“The response of Secretary Wilkie and senior VA officials to the veteran’s complaint of sexual assault was troubling,” Missal said in a statement. “The tone set by Secretary Wilkie appears to have influenced aspects of the initial VA police investigation and the conduct of other VA employees,” the report said. On Thursday, Biden said he will nominate Denis McDonough, who served as President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff, to be VA secretary. VA officials did not examine the information, the report said. A study released by the VA last year found 1 in 4 female veterans using VA health care reported inappropriate comments by male veterans on VA grounds.

McDonough's selection was unveiled amid the latest batch of new additions to key posts in the upcoming Biden administration, which will also include former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. McDonough, 51, had served as Obama's chief of staff for the entirety of the former president's second term in office. McDonough had previously been Obama's deputy national security advisor, as well as the chief of staff of the National Security Council. Rice, 56, an alumna of the administrations of Obama and former President Bill Clinton, will not require confirmation by the Senate to serve as domestic policy director in Biden's White House. She served as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. from 2009 until 2013, when she was selected as Obama's national security advisor.

WASHINGTON – Rahm Emanuel’s chances of landing a top Cabinet post in Joe Biden's administration appear increasingly unlikely after the former Chicago mayor emerged as a source of controversy for the president-elect, who had been considering Emanuel for transportation secretary, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Al Sharpton raised similar concerns during a meeting with Biden and other civil rights leaders, the person said. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss private deliberations and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. An announcement on transportation secretary is not believed to be imminent. Two other high profile Obama-era alumni were announced Thursday as joining the Biden administration — Denis McDonough as veterans' affairs secretary and Susan Rice to head the Domestic Policy Council.

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 move marks a surprising shift for Rice, a longtime Democratic foreign policy expert who served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser and U.N. ambassador. In selecting Rice and McDonough, Biden is continuing to stockpile his administration with prominent members of the Obama administration. In choosing Rice to oversee the White House council, advisers said Biden is signaling the importance of domestic policy in his early agenda. McDonough was previously Obama’s deputy national security adviser, including during the Navy SEAL raid in 2011 that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and was a longtime congressional staffer.

FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2011, file photo Jen Psaki is seen in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. Much of that work will fall to Jen Psaki, Biden's pick for White House press secretary. “This job becomes one of the most recognizable people representing both the administration and the government writ large,” said Robert Gibbs, a former Obama press secretary. Both the president and his media team were frequently at odds with White House reporters while routinely spreading falsehoods. A native of Stamford, Connecticut, and a graduate of William & Mary, Psaki is part of an all-female senior communications team for the Biden White House.

Now Thomas-Greenfield is back, leading President-elect Joe Biden’s State Department transition team to restore the department’s devastated morale. The number of young potential diplomats taking the entrance exam for the foreign service plummeted from 20,000 in the early Obama years to fewer than 5,000 now. The policies that a revived State Department will tackle include reentering multilateral global efforts that Trump eschewed, such as the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear deal. Many former State Department workers are expected to eagerly return to their jobs, particularly under an administration that values their work. Countryman received his pink slip while he was traveling in Jordan on State Department business.

As he contests this year's election results, Trump has not authorized President-elect Joe Biden to lay eyes on the brief. National security and intelligence experts hope Trump changes his mind, citing the need for an incoming president to be fully prepared to confront any national security issues on Day One. That's the type of information that might be in the PDB, a daily summary of high-level, classified information and analysis on national security issues that's been offered to presidents since 1946. It is coordinated and delivered by the Office of the National Intelligence Director with input from the CIA and other agencies. Biden is missing out on all counts: More than a week into his transition, Biden doesn't have access to the PDB, the agencies or government resources to help him get ready to take charge.

Trump's appearance Wednesday at the annual Veterans Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery was his first public outing for official business in more than a week. Staff working from the White House thinned out after chief of staff Mark Meadows confirmed last week that he had tested positive for the virus. Outside the White House, one prominent former ally turned Trump critic warned that the president was doing potentially irreparable damage to the Republican Party. White House spokesman Judd Deere said he was “not aware” of any communications between the White House and the GSA administrator on ascertainment. The Biden transition team has published an ethics plan and the Trump administration earlier established a White House Transition Coordinating Council as required by law.

The Senate Republicans advocated for Biden to receive the classified national security information even as they refused to acknowledge that the Democrat has won the presidential election, citing Trump's baseless claims of fraudulent votes. “At this point at least, I think he should absolutely be getting intelligence briefings," Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said of Biden. While only a handful of Republicans have called Biden the president-elect, most were comfortable Thursday challenging the Trump administration on withholding intelligence information, which could constitute a national security risk when Biden assumes office. Intelligence agencies have given generalized intelligence briefings — minus information on covert operations and sources and methods — for presidential nominees since 1952. Biden, a former vice president, has decades of experience in foreign affairs and national security.

FILE - In this Dec. 15, 2010, file photo Vice President Joe Biden, center, and Susan Rice, the U.S. The 55-year-old has a long pedigree in foreign policy, but has never held elected office. She has also been a lightning rod for criticism from Republicans, who contend she put politics ahead of national security. 2 who could shoulder much of the early workload on foreign policy while Biden focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and reviving the economy. His entire theory of politics is personal relationships, Ben Rhodes, who served as Obamas deputy national security adviser, said of Biden.

White House presses Congress on homeland security funding White House chief of staff Denis McDonough warns Congress not to play politics with funding the Department of Homeland Security.

White House to Congress: Authorize war on ISIS White House chief of staff Denis McDonough discusses the president's request for authority to wage war on extremists in Iraq and Syria.

Open: This is Face the Nation, February 15 The latest on conflicts overseas and politics back home, with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, and others.

February 15: McDonough, Corker, Lewis The latest on conflicts overseas and politics back home, with White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, and others.

Denis McDonough on Copenhagen attack: "We abhor this" In an interview to air on CBS' "Face the Nation," White House chief of staff Denis McDonough says the U.S. will not let stand attacks like the deadly shooting at a cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark. Bob Schieffer's full interview with McDonough will be broadcast Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015.

White House downplays U.S.-Israel tensions White House chief of staff Denis McDonough says America's relationship with Israel is "above partisan politics," despite tensions created by a planned address to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

After Yemen falls, White House defends U.S. counterterrorism policy White House chief of staff Denis McDonough says the U.S. is "very focused" on counterterrorism efforts in the Arabian Peninsula.

White House chief of staff: President will use veto power if he has to Ahead of tonight's State of the Union address, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough spoke with "CBS This Morning" about the president's tax proposals and the prospects for wielding veto power against the GOP-controlled Congress.

White House chief of staff: Obama focused on doing everything to help middle class succeed President Obama's Chief of Staff Denis McDonough joins "CBS This Morning" from the White House to discuss the president's mindset going into Tuesday's State of the Union address.

White House: "No question" ISIS threatens U.S. security White House chief of staff Denis McDonough promises a "strong, steady" campaign to degrade and destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Obama “madder than hell” over VA issues, McDonough says White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on the exit of Robert Petzel, a top Veterans Affairs official.

May 18: McDonough, Dellinger, Bloomberg, Geithner The latest on the departure of Veterans Affairs official Robert Petzel, New York City's 9/11 museum, and a potential 2016 run by Hillary Clinton with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, American Legion National Commander Daniel Dellinger, former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and more.

This is Face the Nation, May 18 The latest on the departure of Veterans Affairs official Robert Petzel, New York City’s 9/11 museum, and a potential 2016 run by Hillary Clinton with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, American Legion National Commander Daniel Dellinger, former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and more.