As we stare down the prospect of another government shutdown due to House Republican time-wasting, House Republicans continue to argue that their party is the party for veterans. Their actions say otherwise.

Last month, House Republicans jammed through an embarrassing military construction/Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. My Democratic colleagues and I fought for veterans' funding after House Republicans called for 22% cuts to all spending in April. President Joe Biden held the line and reached an agreement with Speaker Kevin McCarthy to fund the VA.

Before the ink was even dry, Republicans began to renege on this agreement. Programs like SNAP (previously known as food stamps) and Medicaid that veterans rely on still face steep cuts as Republicans break the deal they struck. Even worse, they added draconian provisions to the spending bill meant to dictate how veterans live their lives.

This reneging is yet another unserious offer after many insincere offers by my colleagues across the aisle. They wasted valuable time this summer with poison pill amendments in an effort to appease the most extreme members of their party. They left town after passing only one appropriations bill, significantly increasing the possibility of a government shutdown. Their direct actions will knowingly hurt veterans more than any of their proposals.

A sergeant who was sentenced in May to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in Texas is still in the Army, according to the service.

Daniel Perry fatally shot Garrett Foster during an Austin protest in July 2020. The law firm representing Perry told Military.com it is aiming to keep him in the Army pending a military separation board decision or a pardon from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Foster, an Air Force veteran who was carrying an AK-47 rifle, was protesting the Minneapolis Police killing of George Floyd when Perry shot him with a handgun. Both Perry and Foster are white and were legally carrying their weapons at the time of the shooting, according to the Texas Tribune.

"Sgt. Perry's current duty status is in civilian confinement and is pending separation from the Army," Bryce Dubee, a service spokesperson, told Military.com on Thursday, adding that Perry is not getting paid by the military and his status in the Army is administrative.

After he was convicted in April, the Army said it reviewed the evidence released by the Travis County District Court where Perry was tried and sent the information to the service's Criminal Investigation Division "to conduct an independent review of the allegations contained within the document," Dubee told Military.com before Perry's sentencing in May.

A spokesperson for Perry's Alaska-based unit told Military.com in May that the 11th Airborne Division "initiated an administrative separation under Army Regulation 635-200 due to his conviction."

So far, that separation board has not executed a final action as to whether Perry is going to stay in the military or not, or what kind of discharge he would receive if he were kicked out.

Military.com asked the Army why it has taken this long to determine Perry's separation status, what would happen if the CID's "independent review" proved at odds with the civilian sentencing, and whether there is any chance that Perry could return to duty as his lawyers hope.

Dubee, the Army spokesperson, did not directly answer the questions but showed the publication a regulation that says a soldier subject to discharge based on a conviction would not be booted until the outcome of an appeal is determined, among other legal thresholds.

Legal representatives for Perry said that they have sought to appeal the noncommissioned officer's sentencing and have previously indicated they would try for a new trial after what they categorized as "political prosecution."

A U.S. fighter jet’s stealth abilities appear to be working too well, as it took authorities hours to locate a debris field after an F-35 went missing when the pilot ejected because of a “mishap.”