veterans

1. November 2, 2026News1 receipt2 min

   Census proposes removing survey questions on solar panels and veterans' service periods

   The Census Bureau proposes removing its solar panels and veterans period of military service questions from the American Community Survey in 2028. It also intends to expand the use of administrative data, potentially skipping other questions for some respondents. To ensure consideration, comments on the proposed collection must be received by January 4, 2027.

   Also filed undercensuscommunity-surveypublic-datapublic-comments

2. September 28, 2026News20 receipts8 min

   The Supreme Court's first argument week, October 5 to 7, is four cases about whether a lawsuit can go forward: what a 401(k) lawsuit must allege, which court hears a veteran's constitutional claim, whether federal law bars Boulder's state-law climate suit against two oil companies, and when a Guam group can challenge the Air Force's bid to keep detonating old munitions in the open. The federal government's lawyers argue against the side that sued in all four.

   The Supreme Court's new term opens with four arguments on October 5, 6 and 7, and each turns, at least in part, on whether a lawsuit can go forward rather than on who is right about the facts. On October 5 the Court hears Suncor Energy v. Commissioners of Boulder County (No. 25-170), on whether federal law bars Boulder's state-law climate damages claims against Suncor and Exxon Mobil, and whether the Court has jurisdiction at all; then Johnson v. United States Congress (No. 25-735), on whether veterans can challenge a benefits law's constitutionality in federal district court. On October 6, Anderson v. Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee (No. 25-498) asks whether a lawsuit over underperforming funds in Intel's retirement plans, including its 401(k), must identify a 'meaningful benchmark'. On October 7, Department of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan (No. 25-579) asks whether the Air Force's application to renew a hazardous-waste permit on Guam can be challenged now, and whether environmental review had to come first. The federal government's lawyers argue against the side that sued in all four. Arguments begin at 10 a.m. Washington time, and the Court live-streams the audio.

   Also filed undersupreme-courtretirement-savingsclimate-litigationguamhazardous-wastefederal-courts

3. September 27, 2026News10 receipts4 min

   There is no October 1 shutdown this year: Public Law 119-103, signed September 2, funds the government at fiscal 2026 rates through December 11, 2026, and puts flood insurance, surface transportation programs and 23 veterans' provisions on the same deadline.

   Fiscal 2027 begins October 1 without a funding lapse. H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, passed the Senate 90-6 on August 8 and the House 370-48 on September 1, and became Public Law 119-103 on September 2. It continues all twelve fiscal 2026 appropriations acts at their fiscal 2026 rates until December 11, 2026, or until full-year bills are enacted, whichever comes first. The same date now governs the National Flood Insurance Program's authority to write new policies and its higher Treasury borrowing limit, the surface transportation programs (the Highway Trust Fund's spending authority covers expenditures before December 12), 23 of the law's 24 veterans' provisions, and other authorities including the Defense Production Act. Section 157 bars a rule arising from the Office of Management and Budget's May 29 proposal to revise the Uniform Guidance for federal grants from being issued or finalized through December 11. As of this desk's read on September 27, no full-year fiscal 2027 appropriations bill had become law. December 11 is the date to watch.

   Also filed underappropriationscongressgovernment-shutdownflood-insurancefederal-grantstransportation

4. September 19, 2026News3 receipts3 min

   An executive order signed September 8 gives the Pentagon 30 days to start handing veterans' records to the VA the day they leave service, and 180 days to build AI tools for benefit claims. It carries no money, no staffing and no way to tell whether the deadlines were met.

   Executive Order 14426, signed September 8 and published September 11, sets three deadlines. Within 30 days, military personnel files, health records and service treatment records must go to the VA immediately when a service member is discharged. Within 120 days, IT contracts must be reviewed and future ones must require interoperability between the two departments' records systems. Within 180 days, the departments must build permanent record-sharing systems and deploy 'new digital tools using artificial intelligence and other emerging capabilities' for benefit applications, and the Transition Assistance Program must connect every departing service member either to an open job or to training. The order contains no dollar figure, no staffing number, no claims-backlog figure, no metric and no report to anyone. It is expressly contingent on 'the availability of appropriations' and creates no enforceable right.

   Also filed underexecutive-ordervadefenseaifederal-register

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