chuck hagel

American debate over intervention in Syria is curiously divorced from the desires of the people we're trying to help.

At a time when the military is under attack for how it handles sexual violence in its ranks, the proceedings underway at the Washington Navy Yard offer a case study on why women in uniform are so reluctant to report sexual assaults. The hearing highlights significant disparities between the way the military and civilian world treat accusers and the accused.

The Department of Defense announced Wednesday that will be granting benefits to the same-sex spouses of both uniformed military personnel and civilian employees no later than Sept. 3.

Col. Brian P. Foley assumed command of Fort Meade during a ceremony Thursday morning.

The Pentagon on Tuesday cut the number of furlough days for 650,000 Defense Department civilians from 11 to six — a welcome surprise for workers who have been saddled with a 20 percent pay-cut since early July.

Bipartisan proposal to crackdown on sexual assaults in the U.S. armed services gets a much-needed boost from two GOP senators

Mary Theresa Nipwoda, a lab technician at Aberdeen Proving Ground, did what she could to prepare for the 20-percent pay cut she knew was coming this week.

A divided Supreme Court struck down a federal law Wednesday that prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage, a landmark decision that will make federal marriage benefits available to legally married same-sex couples for the first time in the nation's history.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will consider a 10-point plan this week to address the claims backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski said Tuesday.

Sloganeering Cruz does not compare to substance-wielding Warren

Juan Williams says rising Senate stars leading their parties toward even greater divisiveness

A former instructor at the Naval Academy has been found not guilty of aggravated sexual assault in an alleged attack on a female midshipman two years ago, an academy spokeswoman said Sunday.

The Naval Academy is investigating the alleged sexual assault last year of a female midshipman by three members of the football team, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday.

As officials at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs look internally for solutions to a claims backlog that is drawing increasing fire from Capitol Hill, they are also reaching for outside help from some of the nation's best-known veterans groups.

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough visited the Baltimore regional office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday to discuss efforts to address the agency's persistent backlog of veterans disability claims.

President Barack Obama will travel to Annapolis to speak at the Naval Academy commencement, addressing the class at a time when the military faces complicated internal challenges the graduating midshipmen will soon inherit.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers pressed the Obama administration on Wednesday to reduce the backlog of disability claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs by improving cooperation between the agencies that have a role in the process.

WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee vote on Labor Secretary nominee Tom Perez was postponed hours before it was set to take place Wednesday, highlighting what appears to be a growing partisan fight over the confirmation of the former Maryland official.

How sexual assaults are investigated and resolved by the U.S. armed forces must be reformed

The Pentagon estimated Tuesday that 26,000 members of the military were sexually assaulted last year, 36 percent more than a year earlier, in a trend so severe that senior officials warned it could threaten recruiting and retention of military personnel.

President Barack Obama is waffling on his earlier "red line" talk about Syrian arms -- for good reason.

Administrative law judges who evaluate disability claims for the Social Security Administration want a federal court to ease a workload that they say makes errors more likely — the latest in a series of challenges confronting the Woodlawn-based agency.

Thomas E. Perez faced pointed questions at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday about whether politics influenced his decisions as the head of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Justice Department.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel once called the military budget 'bloated,' but he's treading cautiously so far.

Sequester is putting national security at risk

One month after across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration began there are signs the impact on the economy — even in a state such as Maryland with strong ties to the federal government — might not be as severe as initially feared.

After he was raped by a fellow Navy sailor, Brian Lewis wanted justice. What he got, the Baltimore man told a Senate panel Wednesday, was an order to keep quiet.