Department of Defense

Two B-1B Lancers assigned to the 28th Operations Group, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, take off for a Weapons School Integration mission at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada on May 30, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Wyatt Stabler)

Defense bill passes Senate with Thune & Rounds support, but deep divide with House looms

BY: - July 28, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators avoided a heated partisan split as they passed the massive annual defense policy package late Thursday —  in stark contrast to the GOP-led House version, in which far-right members included language to restrict abortion access and transgender care for service members. Senators passed the National Defense Authorization Act, 86-11, but lawmakers […]

A sign on the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Johnson votes yes on VA spending bill that renews abortion, transgender fights

BY: - July 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans approved their first government spending bill Thursday, following tense debate about whether the Department of Veterans Affairs should provide abortions in limited circumstances and the GOP’s decision to cut military construction funding. The 219-211 mostly party-line vote (Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, voted yes) on the Military Construction-VA appropriations bill […]

U.S. Air Force ceremonial guardsmen from the 28th Bomb Wing present the colors during a change of command ceremony at Ellsworth Air Force Base, June 23, 2023. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman 1st Class Yendi Borjas)

Johnson votes yes on defense bill that targets abortion access, trans health, racial equity

BY: - July 14, 2023

The U.S. House approved Friday an annual defense authorization bill loaded with GOP rollbacks of Pentagon policies on abortion and transgender health care, as well as efforts to boost racial equity. Republican amendments targeting social policy issues turned a typically bipartisan measure preserving the nation’s military security into another front for the culture wars, similar […]

Contractors conduct groundwater sampling in March 2022 as part of an effort to provide alternative water supplies for areas affected by PFAS contamination near Ellsworth Air Force Base. (U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center)

Pentagon to halt use of firefighting foam that contains PFAS as cleanup costs mount

BY: and - March 16, 2023

WASHINGTON — Battered by years of criticism from U.S. lawmakers and environmental advocates, the Department of Defense will stop purchasing PFAS-containing firefighting foam later this year and phase it out entirely in 2024.  The replacement for Aqueous Film Forming Foam has yet to be determined, and advocates are frustrated it’s taken so long to halt […]