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[T]he Federal Eye asked for [Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald's] personal cellphone number, and he gave it out. In front of a roomful of reporters. On live television. And we published it. Since then, he has received about 900 phone calls or text messages, and “we probably have solved about 25 to 30 percent of the issues,” he said. Some had trouble with their benefits, others with wait times. ... “But the point is, we’ve got to design this organization so it doesn’t depend on my cellphone.” (Wax-Thibodeaux, 11/14)

The Department of Veterans Affairs' record-keeping processes were in such disarray in recent years that the agency didn't track its number of unfilled medical positions until June of this year, according to VA officials. (Giblin, 11/16)

[T]he real culprit was the broad eligibility criteria of the [veterans] disability system itself. The contractor had played by the rules for benefits and, as many Washington lawmakers know, those benefits cover ailments from sports injuries to bullet wounds, resulting in disability payouts that totaled $58 billion this fiscal year — up from $49 billion last year. Routinely criticized in government reviews as out of touch with modern concepts of disability, the system has strayed far from its official purpose of compensating veterans for their lost earning capacity. Yet lawmakers are unwilling to support reforms — or even to criticize the system publicly. (Zarembo, 11/16)

At a time when the legalized use of marijuana is gaining greater acceptance across the country, [Amy] Rising is among a growing number of veterans who are coming out of the “cannabis closet” and pressing the government to recognize pot as a legitimate treatment for the wounds of war. They say it is effective for addressing various physical and psychological conditions related to military service — from chronic back pain and neuropathic issues to panic attacks and insomnia — and often preferable to widely prescribed opioid painkillers and other drugs. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 11/15)