MIL News Weekly

Edward: Welcome to the Mil Weekly Briefing
for 8-14 June 2025, your essential

guide to the latest news impacting
the military and veteran community.

Whether you're currently serving in
uniform, a military retiree, a veteran,

or a family member, this is your source
for the critical updates you need to know.

Each week, we cut through the noise to
bring you the most important developments

from the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and
the Department of Veterans Affairs.

We’ll cover everything from new
policies and pay raises affecting

active and reserve forces, to changes
in healthcare and benefits for

retirees, and the latest on VA services
and legislation for our veterans.

Let's get you informed.

Here’s what’s happened this past week.

Issues That Affect Active
and Reserve Military

During the week of June 8–14, 2025,
the Department of Defense (DoD) and

Congress focused on strengthening
readiness, support, and quality of

life for current service members.

Notable DoD announcements included new
initiatives in child care and innovation.

On June 10 the Pentagon launched a
Child Care Expansion Initiative to

increase affordable, accessible child
care for military families (including

active, Guard, and Reserve members)

. This program, in partnership with
nonprofits, will open new child-care

centers (the first in the Norfolk,
Virginia area) and expand fee

assistance like the “Military Child
Care in Your Neighborhood” program

for geographically dispersed families.

In other force-development news, the Army
Reserve on June 13 activated an Executive

Innovation Corps (Detachment 201) – a
cadre of four tech industry leaders

(from Palantir, Meta, OpenAI, etc.)

commissioned as Reserve officers.

These senior technologists will
work part-time with Army units

to speed development and fielding
of cutting-edge solutions.

Service units also commemorated the
Army’s 250th birthday: the National

Guard’s Apache helicopter crew assisted
in a salute at the Pentagon on June

13 , underscoring Reserve and Guard
participation in readiness events.

Meanwhile, DoD policy guidance
continued to evolve on personnel issues.

In May the Pentagon issued new rules
excluding service members with a current

diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and
set a self‑identification deadline of

June 6, 2025 for active-duty troops
to come forward under the policy.

This voluntary identification period
closed just before our reporting

week, meaning DoD is prepared
to begin separations of those

diagnosed but not self-identified.

(Reserve-component service
members have a July 7 deadline.)

In other personnel news, the Military
and Family Life Counseling program

added PTSD‑focused video therapy
for service members and families,

and DoD welcomed contributions from
its civilian workforce by expanding

child-care benefits to all DOD employees.

On Capitol Hill, key legislative
actions shaped active-duty

and Guard/Reserve interests.

The FY2026 National Defense Authorization
Act (NDAA) was introduced in the House.

On June 9 Chairman Mike Rogers and
Ranking Member Adam Smith unveiled H.R.

3838 – the bipartisan “SPEED Act” – a
sweeping procurement reform bill setting

the framework for the FY2026 NDAA.

The SPEED Act aims to overhaul the Defense
Acquisition System, cutting bureaucracy

so troops get modern technology faster.

It empowers program managers, accelerates
requirements from years to months,

and eases small‑program thresholds
to attract commercial innovation.

This reform legislation will directly
affect current service members by

shortening acquisition timelines;
its impact on retirees is indirect

(most reforms focus on new programs).

Also on June 9 the Senate introduced the
Veterans’ Appeals Efficiency Act (S.1992),

a bipartisan bill to streamline VA
disability appeals, and on June 12 the

Senate moved forward the OATH Act (S.1665)

to ensure veterans who took secrecy
oaths receive full retroactive

VA benefits (see Section 3).

In appropriations, the House Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee marked up

its FY2026 Defense bill on June 12.

That proposal would allocate $831.5

billion for the Pentagon (flat
from FY2025) and included a 3.8%

raise in military basic pay for 2026

. (This continues the trend of
large pay bumps in recent years.)

The House bill also slows permanent
change-of-station moves (saving

$662M) to improve family stability.

As one committee summary notes, the
defense bill “takes care of our troops

and their families” with higher pay
and quality‑of‑life investments.

At the same time, Republicans on the
committee moved to slim the civilian

workforce: the draft bill would eliminate
about 45,000 DoD civilian positions as

part of a “Workforce Acceleration” plan.

(That reduction would mainly
affect federal defense civilians,

not uniformed retirees.)

The committee report explicitly targeted
wasteful spending and codified several

Trump‑era policies (like banning
funding for “sex-change surgeries”)

in compliance with the White House
guidance attached to the funding levels.

If passed, the appropriations act
would indirectly affect retirees

by funding veteran programs fully
(through the MilCon/VA bill) and

by tying active pay raises to
the cost‑of‑living increases that

ultimately drive military pension COLAs.

Key legislative items: House H.R.

3838 (the SPEED Act, introduced
6/9/2025) is the FY2026 NDAA

blueprint (see text on Congress.gov).

H.R.

3838 overhauls defense procurement
to get technology to troops faster.

On the appropriations side, the
House approved markup of H.R.

3944 (FY2026 MilCon-VA Appropriations),
which will fund military construction

and veteran programs (see Section 3).

In this defense bill, a 3.8%

pay raise and other troop
support measures were adopted.

Issues That Affect Retired Military

Retired service members and their
survivors saw a mix of legal and

administrative updates this week.

In the courts, the biggest development
was a Supreme Court ruling in Soto v.

United States (June 12, 2025).

The justices unanimously held that
combat-disabled veterans are entitled

to receive their full Combat-Related
Special Compensation (CRSC) benefits

from the date of their discharge,
overturning a six‑year retroactivity cap.

In practical terms, this decision
means thousands of retirees who lost

CRSC payments after six years will now
get the remainder of their benefits

in a lump sum and future checks.

(Advocacy groups report that over 9,000
combat-injured retirees could receive back

pay, often tens of thousands of dollars.)

This ruling restores full health‑care
payments to qualified retirees

and ensures no time limit on those
benefits; it was widely hailed as

a victory for veterans’ rights.

On the administrative side, the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)

issued reminders affecting retired pay
and Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities.

DFAS announced that July 1, 2025 pay
dates for military retirees and SBP

survivors would occur as scheduled.

(Regular retirees’ monthly
pay and SBP annuities will be

disbursed on July 1 as planned.)

Importantly, DFAS updated retirees on a
forthcoming change in SBP premium billing.

Many retirees who pay SBP premiums via
the Treasury’s Direct Remittance system

were expecting a transition in June
2025; DFAS confirmed that this change

is delayed pending further notice.

Once implemented, eligible retirees
will be billed and pay premiums

directly to DFAS instead of through
Treasury, simplifying future payments.

(Retirees should monitor DFAS
communications for the new

schedule and payment instructions.)

Beyond these, routine
lifecycle updates continue.

Service retirees will receive their annual
cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 2.5%

for 2025 (consistent with Social
Security), and SBP annuitants

likewise get a matching 2.5%

increase in their payments (no
news changed that this week).

Meanwhile, the FY2026 defense
appropriations (see above) will

indirectly affect retired personnel:
the active-duty pay raise usually sets

the index for future retiree COLAs,
and the National Guard and Reserve

pay raise noted for 2025 (2.7%)

has already improved back
pay for Reserve retirees.

However, aside from the Supreme Court
CRSC decision and DFAS announcements,

there were no new retiree-specific
benefits or legislative provisions

introduced in the June 8–14 window.

Key points for retirees: The Supreme
Court decision on CRSC (Soto v.

United States) ensures full retroactive
pay for combat-disabled retirees.

DFAS confirmed July pay dates
and warned that the planned SBP

premium billing overhaul has
been delayed to beyond June 2025.

(Retirees paying SBP premiums via
Treasury should watch for DFAS notices.)

Any legislation from this week had
more impact on active service and

veterans’ policy than on retired
pay, although the appropriations and

NDAA efforts in Congress do set the
stage for future funding of retirees’

benefits and cost-of-living adjustments.

Issues That Affect Veteran’s Affairs

Veterans – especially those with
disabilities, caregivers, and

surviving family members – saw
numerous federal actions in mid-June.

The Department of Veterans Affairs itself
celebrated processing milestones: as

of mid-2025 VA was on pace to deliver
more health care and benefits than ever.

(VA reported that in 2024 it
granted $137 billion in compensation

and pension benefits to 1.1

million veterans and survivors,

reflecting record case
completions under the PACT Act.

While this was announced in July
2024, the trend of surging claims

processing continued into 2025.)

In other VA updates, an expanded VA
mobile app now lets veterans refill

and track prescriptions online and
schedule telehealth visits (part of

ongoing technology modernization).

Also, VA’s annual “Federal Benefits
Guide” for veterans and families

remains available on VA’s website
as a comprehensive handbook, but no

major changes to VA programs were
announced in this week’s timeframe.

Legislatively, Congress advanced
several bills directly affecting

veterans and their families.

On the appropriations front, as
noted above the House approved

its FY2026 Military Construction
and VA spending bill (H.R.

3944) in committee.

That measure (FY2026 MilCon-VA
Act) would provide $452.8

billion total ($152.1B

discretionary) – about a
3% increase over FY2025.

It “fully funds veterans’ health care
and benefits” and beefs up key programs.

In summary, the House plan includes:
VA Health and Benefits Funding:

Restores full funding for veterans’
medical care and disability

programs, including mental health,
polytrauma centers, and caregivers.

It explicitly “fully funds veterans’
health care programs” and “fully funds

veterans’ benefits and VA programs”.

The bill also boosts grants to combat
veteran homelessness (including

expanding a new rental assistance pilot).

Quality-of-Life for Veterans and Families:
The bill invests in veterans’ quality of

life (homeless and mental health outreach,
research) and simultaneously funds housing

and child care for active-duty families.

(For example, it maintains VA’s
veteran homelessness grants and

caregiver support initiatives.)

Veteran Security & Policy Riders:
The committee included restrictions

limiting VA data-sharing (protecting
Second Amendment rights of veterans)

and prohibiting VA purchase of certain
foreign-made equipment, reflecting

broader border/security provisions.

If enacted, these spending provisions
would keep VA benefit programs fully

resourced (helping both current
beneficiaries and future retirees) and

authorize needed construction (e.g.

new VA clinics and hospital expansions).

The bill also included several
bipartisan amendments (e.g.

to strengthen the Veterans Crisis Line
and support toxic-exposed veterans).

On the policy side, Congress considered
multiple veterans-centric bills.

In the Senate, S.

1665, the “OATH Act”, was
introduced on June 12 by Sens.

Blumenthal and colleagues.

This bill would amend title 38 U.S.C.

to ensure that all veterans
who signed secrecy oaths (e.g.

at Aberdeen Proving Ground) receive
the full VA benefits owed to

them from their discharge date.

In practice, it overturns past rules
that reduced payments due to classified

service, by restoring benefits (disability
or pension) retroactively to discharge.

Though this Senate text is still
in committee, its goal is clear:

affected disabled and retired
veterans will get lump-sum back

payments and permanent entitlement
to the full amounts they earned.

Meanwhile the Senate Veterans Affairs
Committee unanimously approved S.

1992, the Veterans Appeals Efficiency Act
of 2025, introduced June 9 by Senators

Blumenthal, Young, Banks, and Lankford.

This bipartisan bill aims to cut red tape
in the VA disability appeals process.

Key features include quicker
initial decision timelines, improved

electronic records for appeals, and
metrics to monitor backlog reduction.

If enacted, S.1992

would make appeals faster and more
transparent for veterans (both active

and retired), though it would not
directly affect pay or benefits amounts.

The House has a companion effort: on
June 10 House VA leaders introduced H.R.

3835 (Veterans Appeals Efficiency Act) and
related bills (for caregiver appeals H.R.

3833, automated claims processing H.R.

3854).

These mirror the Senate proposals,
showing Congress-wide focus

on veterans’ claims reform.

In ceremonial and recognition measures,
the Senate on June 12 passed S.Res.

276, formally designating June 12, 2025
as “Women Veterans Appreciation Day”.

This resolution (introduced by
a bipartisan group) honors the

service of America’s women veterans.

It is a symbolic tribute (not a law) and
has no direct impact on benefits or pay,

but it highlights growing Congressional
recognition of women’s contributions.

Finally, the week saw other scattered
veterans’ news: for example, on June 13

VA announced that it had processed 100%
of claims for certain PACT Act-related

cancers from Vietnam, and that VA home
loan guaranty volumes continued to climb

(over $180B in FY2024), showing strong
demand for veterans’ housing assistance.

However, the main developments
were the legislative and

appropriation actions noted above.

Key legislative items: Major
bills this week include House H.R.

3838 (FY2026 NDAA, “SPEED Act”,
introduced 6/9) and the House

MilCon-VA appropriations measure H.R.

3944 (draft, markup on 6/11) – both
passed the House committee.

In the Senate, S.

1992 (Veterans Appeals Efficiency
Act, introduced 6/9) and S.

1665 (OATH Act, introduced 6/12) are
under consideration, along with S.Res.

276 (women veterans appreciation, 6/12).

In summary, this week’s federal activity
strengthened support for service

members, veterans, and military families.

Defense news focused on improving
readiness and family care for

active and reserve forces, while
Congress moved to fund pay raises,

medical care, and infrastructure.

Retirees benefited most visibly
from the Supreme Court CRSC

ruling and DFAS pay guidance.

And veterans saw both new funding
commitments in the Appropriations

Committees and new legislative efforts
to streamline claims and honors.

Altogether, these developments in
mid-June 2025 reflect an ongoing

commitment at the federal level to
care for military personnel across

all stages of service and beyond.

And that's your Weekly Briefing.

Staying on top of these changes
is key to navigating your career,

your retirement, and your benefits.

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We’ll be back next week with another
roundup of the news that matters most

to the military and veteran community.