VA Reaches 18 Million Home Loans: Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson noted last week that the VA had approved its 18 millionth home loan guarantee—the milestone loan went to Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran Robert Laurent of Kyle, Tex. Laurent is an Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient who was discharged after four years in uniform due to combat-related injuries.
The Pentagon’s cost estimate for the Iran War has risen to $37.5 billion, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a congressional committee July 21—and without emergency supplemental funding, the military will have to “curtail” training to cover those costs, he added.