Senior executives at the Department of Veterans Affairs would be banned from ever again taking bonuses that Congress established for rank-and-file workers — including police, housekeepers and claims processors — under legislation adopted by the Senate.

Veterans groups urged the Department of Veterans Affairs to take steps to end common mistakes in claims reviews for disability that include redundant requests more medical exams when the clinical diagnoses already are in veterans’ records.

Dave Crete, a former Air Force sergeant at a Nevada installation where nuclear bombs were tested, developed tumors in his brain and throughout his body years after he worked as a military police officer at the facility in the 1980s.

VA Secretary Doug Collins wrote in an email sent to employees Friday evening that the agency was extending an offer of deferred resignation or retirement prior to a reduction in the workforce that will take place later in the fiscal year.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will end a controversial mortgage bailout program that provides “last resort” assistance to veterans facing foreclosure and holding VA-backed loans, the agency announced.

When Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced the unofficial hearing, he said it was necessary because Republican lawmakers who lead the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees have yet to schedule a formal hearing on the federal layoffs and their impact on veterans’ jobs, benefits and services.

The SAVES Act would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs for the first time to award grants to nonprofits to provide service dogs at no cost to veterans with disabilities. Qualifying nonprofits would have to meet standards established by an accreditation organization.

Hospitals at the Department of Veterans Affairs lag behind commercial hospitals in access to life-changing medical technology because of budget constraints and staffing shortages, leaders of medical technology companies told lawmakers Tuesday.

A mortgage bailout program that has kept more than 15,000 veterans facing foreclosure from losing their homes would be scaled back or ended under legislation sponsored by Republicans on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

A Senate confirmation hearing for three nominees to assume leadership posts at the Department of Veterans Affairs was derailed Tuesday after Sen. Ruben Gallego announced his intention to block a vote on the Senate floor unless the VA reconsiders a plan to fire 83,000 workers.