Veterans

The Veterans Affairs Department is withholding bonuses for senior officials who oversee disability claims, citing a failure to meet performance goals for reducing a sizable backlog in claims processing.

The backlog has increased dramatically over the past three years, and the department has come under intense criticism from veterans' groups and members of Congress.

VA spokesman Josh Taylor said Monday that the savings would be used to help reduce the backlog. He could provide no specifics nor say how many people would be affected.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's budget proposal will include nearly a 14 percent spending increase for that part of the VA responsible for attacking a growing backlog of veterans' disability claims — a problem that officials warned is likely to worsen in coming months.

All told, the Department of Veterans Affairs would see a 4 percent increase, to $63.5 billion, for such items as medical care and research, technology and new construction. That does not include disability, pension and education benefits.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal investigative agency says employees at a Veterans Administration hospital in Jackson, Miss., disclosed "serious wrongdoing" that raises questions about the facility's ability to care for the veterans it serves.

In a letter sent Monday to the White House, the Office of Special Counsel said an initial report by a whistleblower employee at the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center alleged in 2009 that the staff routinely failed to properly clean and sterilize reusable medical equipment such as scalpels.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The military's new medal for cyber warriors should get a demotion, according to veterans groups and lawmakers who say it shouldn't outrank such revered honors as the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.