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Lawmakers move to help veterans at risk of losing their homes
Former Marine Jason Miles stands in front of his home in Clinton, Miss. He lost a sales job during the pandemic and had to take a forbearance.
Imani Khayyam for NPR
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Imani Khayyam for NPR
Former Marine Jason Miles stands in front of his home in Clinton, Miss. He lost a sales job during the pandemic and had to take a forbearance.
Imani Khayyam for NPR
The chairmen of the U.S. Senate’s Banking and Veterans Affairs committees introduced a bill Thursday to help veterans at risk of losing their homes because of a COVID-assistance program that the VA ended abruptly in 2022.
The bill, which they call the “Veterans Housing Stability Act,” would let the Department of Veterans Affairs restart the program, which thousands of veterans used to skip mortgage payments when they faced pandemic-related financial problems.
“Our veterans earned their home loan guarantee benefit, and they deserve a viable option to get back on track with payments and keep their homes,” said Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat and chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee. He sponsored the bill along with Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat who heads the Banking Committee.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) departs from a briefing for U.S. Senators at the U.S. Capitol Building on Sept. 7, 2023.
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Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) departs from a briefing for U.S. Senators at the U.S. Capitol Building on Sept. 7, 2023.
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Like millions of other Americans, veterans took advantage of what’s called a COVID mortgage forbearance, which allowed homeowners to stop paying their mortgage for six to 18 months. It was set up by Congress after the pandemic hit for people who lost income. But an NPR investigation last November found that tens of thousands of veterans who took a forbearance were suddenly left with no way to resume making payments after the VA ended a crucial part of the program for people with VA loans.
One homeowner affected was Marine combat veteran Jason Miles.
Miles served four tours, in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. He lost a sales job during the pandemic and had to take a forbearance when he couldn’t afford his mortgage. Like many veterans, he was told the missed payments would be moved to the back end of his loan term. But then the VA ended the part of the program that allowed homeowners to do that, leaving Miles and thousands of others facing foreclosure.
“This is horrifying,” Miles told NPR in November. “I’m scared to death that we’re about to lose our home.”
After NPR first reported on the problem, the VA stopped the foreclosures and announced a 6 month pause while it worked to roll-out a fix.
The sponsors of Thursday’s bill say their legislation could play a key role. It would make clear that the VA has the authority to restart the program that it shut down back in 2022.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) looks on during a Senate Committee hearing on May 16, 2023.
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Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) looks on during a Senate Committee hearing on May 16, 2023.
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Brown said the bill “will keep our promises to veterans and servicemembers today and in the future by giving homeowners affordable options to stay in their homes.”
The VA’s Partial Claim Payment program enabled mortgage companies to bundle up the missed payments from a forbearance and effectively move them to the back of the loan term so the homeowner could just return to making their normal mortgage payments – with the same principal and interest payment and interest rate as before the forbearance. The missed payments would get paid back when the homeowner sold the house or refinanced down the road.
The VA told NPR it had concluded that it no longer had the authority to do that after October of 2022. Industry and housing experts disagreed and warned the VA that given a historic spike in mortgage rates, ending the program would strand thousands of veterans with no affordable way to get current on their loans. But the VA ended the program anyway and didn’t replace it.
Since the 1940s, loans backed by the VA have been a bedrock part of the benefits offered to military veterans. But since October of 2022, VA loans have had worse options for homeowners who are behind on payments compared to mortgages backed by the FHA or the government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“Our veterans and servicemembers need to be able to bring their mortgage current,” said Tester. “Our bill will ensure they can do that and are granted the same options as they would be under other federally-backed loans.”
The VA guarantees the loans, but they’re actually made and managed by private lenders, who appear supportive of the Senate bill.
“We think a partial claim, which is necessary to enable forbearance in the VA program, is very important,” said Justin Wiseman with the Mortgage Bankers Association. The group has been calling on the VA to offer more affordable ways for homeowners to get current.
Alongside the new legislation, the VA says it is working on a new loan modification program that could help the thousands of vets who were delinquent or in the foreclosure process before it paused foreclosures.
At a press conference on Tuesday, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said he is eager to work with Congress on a fix for the forbearance problem, and promised the VA’s own fix would be ready by summer.
“Each of these steps is meant to ensure that our veterans who have confronted this difficult challenge know that we’re here for them and we can help them manage through this period coming out of the pandemic,” said McDonough, “If that is not the case, I urge our veterans to please be in touch with us so that we can address any questions or concerns or confusion that they’re encountering.”
But while homeowners who were on the verge of foreclosure have a reprieve, there’s another group of vets that may not be getting any help.
Many people with VA loans ended up in loan modifications with much higher monthly payments as a result of the VA ending its pandemic relief program. The VA hasn’t yet told NPR how many veterans this happened to or whether it is going to do anything for them. In an interview with NPR, Sen. Tester acknowledged that this initial bill doesn’t address those veterans – but he vowed that they will be made whole.
“The VA needs to be tracking this and we’re going to continue to put pressure on them,” Tester said.
The VA has paused home foreclosures, which gives Miles some breathing room.
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Imani Khayyam for NPR
The VA has paused home foreclosures, which gives Miles some breathing room.
Imani Khayyam for NPR
As for veteran Jason Miles in Mississippi, back in November his mortgage company was telling him he had to come up with a years worth of missed payments all at once to make his loan current.
“It was essentially you’ve gotta pay the $20,000 or you’re going into foreclosure.”
These days Miles is a teacher and a coach at Clinton Christian Academy, a high school in Clinton, Miss. But even after selling some furniture and some of his firearms, there was no way he could come up with a lump sum payment to avoid losing the house where he lives with his wife and three children.
He could, however, afford to resume making his monthly mortgage payments. But his mortgage company still won’t accept monthly payments unless he somehow gets his loan current again.
Now that the VA has paused foreclosures, that gives Miles some breathing room. He just hopes the VA can actually come up with a fix.
“I’m still very nervous about it,” he says. But he adds, “I have hope now.”
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Americans Exposed to Hantavirus on Cruise Ship Arrive in United States
Eighteen passengers who were aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship with a deadly hantavirus outbreak, landed in Omaha on a U.S. government medical flight. The passengers were being monitored at medical facilities in Nebraska and Georgia.
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We’re working diligently to ensure no one leaves the security in an unsecured way at an inappropriate time. No one who poses a risk to public health is walking out the front door of the streets of Omaha or beyond.
By Axel Boada
May 11, 2026
The man charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last month pleaded not guilty at a Monday arraignment in federal court.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, wearing an orange shirt and trousers, was handcuffed and shackled as he was brought into the courtroom in Washington, D.C., federal court. His handcuffs were attached to a chain around his waist, which clanked as he was led to the defense table.
Speaking on behalf of Allen, federal public defender Tezira Abe said her client “pleads not guilty to all four counts as charged,” including attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, in connection with the April 25 incident at the Washington Hilton hotel.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones advised the court that they plan to start producing their first tranche of discovery to the defense by the end of the week.
Officials said Allen, a California teacher and engineer, was armed with multiple guns, as well as knives, when he sprinted through a security checkpoint near the event where Trump and other White House officials had gathered with journalists.
He was arrested after an exchange of gunfire with a U.S. Secret Service officer who fired at him multiple times, a criminal complaint said. Allen was not shot during the exchange. The officer, who was wearing a ballistic vest, was shot once in the chest, treated at a hospital and released.
Trump and top members of his Cabinet and Congress were quickly evacuated from the room as others ducked under tables.
Allen was initially charged with attempting to assassinate the president, transportation of a firearm and ammunition through interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. On Tuesday, a federal grand jury indicted him on a new charge in the shooting of a Secret Service agent.
Moments before the attack, Allen had sent his family members a note apologizing and criticizing Trump without mentioning the president by name, according to a transcript of some of his writings provided to NBC News by a senior administration official. Allen also wrote that “administration officials (not including Mr. Patel)” were “targets.”
He also appeared to have taken a selfie in his hotel room. Prosecutors said Allen, who was dressed in a black button-down shirt and black pants, was “wearing a small leather bag consistent in appearance with the ammunition-filled bag later recovered from his person,” as well as a shoulder holster, a sheathed knife, pliers and wire cutters.
Officials have said they believe Allen had traveled by train from California to Washington, D.C., before checking into the hotel.
Allen’s sister, Avriana Allen, told law enforcement that her brother would make radical comments and constantly referenced a plan to fix the world, but said their parents were unaware that he had firearms in the home and that he would regularly train at shooting ranges.
Records show that he had purchased a Maverick 12-gauge shotgun in August 2025 and an Armscor Precision .38 semiautomatic pistol in October 2023.
After his arrest, Allen told the FBI that he did not expect to survive the incident, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine. He was briefly placed on suicide watch at the Washington, D.C., jail, where he’s being held.
Allen is expected to appear in court for a June 29 hearing.
At Monday’s arraignment, his legal team said they plan on asking for the “entire office” of the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to be recused because of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s apparent involvement in the case in a “supervisory role.” Federal public defender Eugene Ohm said some of the evidence they receive from the government will further inform that decision.
Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. The New York Times
Shake intensity
Pop. density
A cluster of earthquakes have struck near the U.S.-Mexico border, including ones with a 4.5 and 4.7 magnitude, according to the United States Geological Survey.
As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.
Subsequent quakes have been reported in the same area. Such temblors are typically aftershocks caused by minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.
Aftershocks detected
Quakes and aftershocks within 100 miles
Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.
The New York Times
When quakes and aftershocks occurred
Sources: United States Geological Survey (epicenter, aftershocks, shake intensity); LandScan via Oak Ridge National Laboratory (population density) | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Pacific time. Shake data is as of Saturday, May 9 at 11:55 p.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Sunday, May 10 at 11:54 p.m. Eastern.
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