Government & Policy
Legislation, executive orders, regulatory changes, and government actions that directly impact personal finances, taxes, benefits, or the economy.
Latest in Government & Policy
Twenty-three burn-pit conditions can now qualify veterans for disability pay without proving the cause
For years, a veteran who developed a rare cancer or a stubborn respiratory illness after breathing the smoke of a military burn pit faced a...
A veteran rated 100% disabled now receives more than $3,900 a month, tax-free
A veteran who reaches the top of the Department of Veterans Affairs disability scale now collects more than $3,900 every month, and none of it...
About 54,000 combat-injured veterans could finally draw both military retirement and disability pay, roughly $1,200 more a month
For tens of thousands of veterans who were medically retired because a combat injury ended their careers early, every dollar of disability compensation they earn...
A bipartisan PROMISE Act would set up a fast-track process to fix Social Security before its 2030s shortfall
Congress has spent years knowing that Social Security’s finances are heading for a cliff and doing almost nothing about it. A bipartisan group of senators...
Rick Scott is pushing a plan to let older Americans keep working without a Social Security earnings penalty
Senator Rick Scott is targeting a rule that quietly discourages older Americans from working: the Social Security retirement earnings test. His Senior Citizens’ Freedom to...
Senators Warren, Schumer and Wyden introduced a bill to expand Social Security and veterans’ benefits, but Congress must act
A group of Senate Democrats has put a concrete dollar figure on the table for older Americans and veterans: an extra $200 a month, for...
Eighteen states will soon block soda, candy and desserts from food-stamp purchases
The list of things a food-stamp dollar can buy is shrinking, and the map of where that happens now covers 18 states. Through a wave...
Social Security is ending paper checks this year, and recipients without a bank account switch to a Direct Express card
The federal government is retiring a payment method that has existed since the New Deal. Under a 2025 executive order and a Treasury mandate that...
SNAP theft victims can no longer get stolen benefits replaced with federal money after a program lapsed
For two years, a household whose food-assistance benefits were drained by thieves could get the money back from the federal government. That safety net is...
Senate Democrats reintroduced the Social Security 2100 Act to lift 71 million checks by 2%, but it must clear the Senate
Congressional Democrats have again put a 2 percent across-the-board raise for Social Security on the table, reviving the long-running Social Security 2100 Act in the...
Bernie Sanders is moving to block a new garnishment that could take 15% of Social Security checks for old student loans
Decades-old student debt is once again reaching into retirees’ monthly Social Security checks, and Senator Bernie Sanders is moving to stop it. As the federal...
Trump’s promised $2,000 tariff checks aren’t coming, and the Supreme Court wiped out the tariffs meant to pay for them
The $2,000 check that President Trump floated as a tariff dividend has no money behind it. On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court struck down...
A VA program can pay a family caregiver to look after an aging veteran at home
Families caring for an aging or disabled veteran often absorb the cost quietly: a daughter cuts her hours, a spouse leaves a job, and the...
Medicaid is cutting retroactive coverage from three months to two for seniors starting in 2027
A little-noticed provision in the 2025 federal budget law will shorten the safety net that protects seniors from crushing medical bills incurred just before they...
New food-stamp rules make adults 55 to 64 work 80 hours a month, though caregivers stay exempt
A change buried in last year’s sweeping budget law is now reaching people in their late 50s and early 60s who had never faced a...
A Senate bill would send $600-per-person tariff rebates, but it still hasn’t moved in Congress
Talk of tariff “rebate” or “dividend” checks has circulated for months, and a Senate proposal would put a concrete number on it: at least $600...
Wartime veterans and surviving spouses can qualify for an Aid and Attendance pension worth up to about $2,900 a month
The maximum Aid and Attendance pension for a married wartime veteran now reaches $34,488 a year, or about $2,874 a month, after a 2.8% cost-of-living...
Starting in 2027 the government will deposit up to $1,000 a year into low- and middle-income retirement accounts
A federal retirement perk that has existed only as a modest tax credit is about to turn into real cash landing directly in savings accounts....
A new Medicaid work rule could cost adults 50 to 64 their coverage, while people 65 and older stay exempt
A federal rule taking hold for 2027 will require many working-age adults on Medicaid to log 80 hours a month of work or approved activity...
VA disability pay is on track to rise about 3.9% in 2027, roughly $39 more a month at a $1,000 rating
Veterans receiving VA disability compensation are on track for a raise of about 3.9 percent at the start of 2027, though the figure is still...