The Brief

Jon Henry served in Iraq during the first Gulf War, in a unit meant to counter chemical warfare attacks. Luckily for him the attacks never happened, but he still earned full veterans benefits, including a home loan backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Henry, who lives outside Kansas City. Mo., fell behind on his mortgage after losing his job managing a manufacturing plant last October. And because of a move last month by the VA, vets like him with delinquent loans have far worse options than most other American homeowners who never served.

"My social media posts have not been nice to the director of the VA and have not been nice to Trump," Henry said. "And I voted for the guy!"

Henry was hoping to get help from the VA Servicing Purchase program, or VASP. In just the past year, according to the VA, it has helped more than 33,000 veterans and servicemembers who got behind on their loans by giving them a new, low-interest-rate mortgage.

But last month, out of fear of the potential cost, the VA abruptly did away with this safety net. It was the latest development in a VA mortgage saga that has whiplashed veterans between various enacted and cancelled programs and left thousands in fear of losing their homes. There are about 80,000 vets in the U.S. behind on their mortgages and heading toward foreclosure, according to data from ICE Mortgage Technology.

Navy Diver Matt Kelly in Salalah, Oman circa 2010 before doing an underwater sweep of a pier to look for improvised explosive devices.

"It's like, damn, you keep talking big about how you're doing all this for the veterans, but you just turned your back on 80,000 vets that have VA loans," Henry said.

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are questioning this move by the VA. And NPR has heard from more than 50 veterans around the country in recent weeks who say they are upset.

"I'm constantly terrified every day that some giant moving truck or some people are just gonna show up on the front door and kick us out and start throwing all of our stuff out of the house," said Mason Reale, a former Navy sonar technician in Lake Wales, Fla.

"It's infuriating and it's devastating," Matthew Kelly, a retired Navy Special Operations diver in San Antonio, Texas, told NPR.

The VA said in a statement to NPR that it "has a long-standing history of exploring options for Veterans to retain their homes." 

But the VASP program was created as a crucial last resort to keep veterans in their homes. Current mortgage rates of around 7 percent mean the other option for a VA loan, a loan modification, often sharply raises the monthly payment, making it unaffordable. So without VASP, many veterans will have to choose between selling the house, or getting foreclosed on.

That leaves vets in a worse position than most other homeowners. Mortgages backed by the government either through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA all have emergency options for delinquent borrowers that don't raise their interest rate or monthly payment. But that's not true anymore for veterans with loans backed by the VA, now that it's closed enrollment into VASP.

When VA secretary Doug Collins appeared before a U.S. Senate committee in May, he heard about it — and mostly from Republican lawmakers.

" I was just with a press conference back home with reporters back home," Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told Collins. "They asked me about the VA servicing purchase program or VASP."

Cassidy cited NPR's reporting and asked about the VA "leaving veterans in the lurch."

Collins stood behind the VA's decision to end VASP. "The VASP program is something that we do not need to be in," he said.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins testifies on Capitol Hill on May 15.

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Collins and some other Republicans don't like the way VASP works to help vets with these troubled loans — by buying them up and rolling the missed payments into a new loan with a low 2.5 percent interest rate. They worry that puts too much taxpayer money at risk since the VA holds the new loans on its own books.

At a recent house hearing, Collins said the program was going to cost "multiple billions of dollars" going forward and that "it's a program we should have never gotten into."

Collins said he's hoping Congress passes legislation to replace VASP with what's called a "partial claim" program. That takes the homeowners' missed payments and moves that debt to the end of the homeowner's loan term. Homeowners then start paying their mortgage again with their original interest rate and monthly payment.

VA used to have a partial claim option for veterans but it was suddenly shut down in late 2022 during the Biden administration. That, too, left thousands of vets with far worse options than other homeowners. After NPR reported on that misstep, the VA halted foreclosures for an entire year while it rolled out VASP to rescue vets from losing their homes. Now Trump's VA has scuttled that rescue program.

"We look forward to seeing how that legislation… the partial claim comes through," Collins told senators at last month's hearing.

But Democrats slammed Collins and the VA for basically ripping up the VASP safety net before anything has been set up to replace it.  Congressman Chris Pappas of New Hampshire said vets facing foreclosure are left just hoping Congress will act in time.

"That's not a good enough answer for my constituent," Pappas told Collins at another recent hearing. "Veterans I talked to don't agree with the abrupt ending to VASP," Pappas said.

Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) says he's concerned about veterans facing imminent foreclosure after the abrupt cancellation of the VASP program.

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At the Senate hearing, Arkansas Republican John Boozman gently made that same point to Collins, asking what the VA can do for veterans right now, and for the unknown number of months that it may take for Congress to pass, and VA to set up, a new program.

"How does the VA plan to help veterans at risk of foreclosure?" Boozman asked. "You know it's one thing going forward, it's another thing for those individuals that are caught up in that now, and it makes it really difficult."

Asked by Pappas whether he would consider another foreclosure moratorium for vets, Collins replied: " I'm not gonna commit to a program on the fly here in the middle of the hearing. I understand your concern."

Navy Diver Matt Kelly (left) in Scuba gear on a training mission with divers from Trinidad and Tobago in 2012.<br>

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The mortgage program has been a real concern for veterans like the former Navy diver Matt Kelly. Kelly suffered a brain injury during his service. He still gets headaches, and a few years ago they stopped him from working for a while.

"I was getting terrible migraines," he said. " I thought I needed time to deal with my medical stuff. "

Kelly's mortgage company allowed him to pause payments and told him he'd have an affordable way to catch up later. Indeed, VASP would have done that. But then the VA shut it down, leaving Kelly panicked about losing his home, and not knowing where he'd go with his wife and three young kids.

When NPR first spoke to Kelly in April, he said he'd been up most of the previous night, worrying what to do.

After his Navy service, Kelly worked in a search and rescue and underwater recovery unit for Grand Canyon National Park. 

 "I shake uncontrollably," Kelly said. "My wife woke me up and said I was shaking. But right now I'm more pissed off and angry."

After NPR asked the VA and Kelly's mortgage company, Loancare, about his situation, the president of the company called NPR to say that, in Kelly's case, the company actually made some mistakes that led to Kelly not getting enrolled in VASP in time. He said Loancare will eat the cost and give Kelly a new, low-interest-rate loan with the same terms as VASP.

Thousands of other vets who are still behind on their loans haven't been so fortunate. Both Jon Henry and Mason Reale initially had trouble qualifying for VASP and now the program is closed so they won't get the help. Kelly says he's worried about other vets.

"It's a responsibility of the VA. They announced this program, then they canceled the program, and they're leaving veterans hanging," Kelly said, adding, "their mission to protect veterans and care for veterans is not being fulfilled."

Meanwhile, Congress is working on a replacement for the VA home loan safety net. One bill has passed in the House and two bills have been introduced in the Senate. But it's not clear how long the process of standing up a new VA safety net might take, or how many veterans will lose their homes in the meantime.
Copyright 2025 NPR

California under a law taking effect today seeks to uphold the labor and unionization rights of private-sector employees, as the federal agency that has held that power for decades is in limbo.

But the new law’s future is unclear because the Trump administration is challenging it.

The law, which grants more powers to the California Public Employment Relations Board, is a response to the National Labor Relations Board lacking a quorum.

President Donald Trump fired the NLRB’s chairperson, Gwynne Wilcox, days after he began his second term in January. His two nominees to the board have yet to be confirmed, so the federal board has been without the three members it needs for a quorum for months.

Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, the Inglewood Democrat who wrote the bill, said when the governor signed it in September that “California will not sit idly as its workers are systematically denied the right to organize due to employer intransigence or federal inaction.”

The NLRB sued California over the law in October, saying in its lawsuit that the state is trying to assert authority over “areas explicitly reserved for federal oversight.”

On the legal challenge to the law, Terry Schanz, McKinnor’s chief of staff, referred CalMatters to the state attorney general. Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office is responsible for defending the law in court. A spokesperson for Bonta said the office would have nothing to say about it.

With the NLRB unable to fulfill its duties, states are trying to fill the gap in enforcing the National Labor Relations Act, which Congress passed in 1935. But labor experts contacted by CalMatters do not have high hopes for the California law, which is similar to a law passed in New York this year. They said courts, including the Supreme Court, have ruled that states cannot decide matters pertaining to federal labor law because of preemption, the doctrine that a higher authority of law overrides a lower authority.

“It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where the courts do not overturn these (state) laws,” said John Logan, professor and chairperson of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University.

William Gould, a former chairperson of the National Labor Relations Board during the Clinton administration and a professor emeritus at Stanford University, agreed: “In the courts the matter is a dead letter unless (the Supreme Court) shifts gears.”

That’s what the California and U.S. chambers of commerce, along with other business groups, are hoping, according to their amicus brief in support of the Trump administration’s lawsuit against California: “Under California’s view, every state could have its own labor law for private-sector workers. Dozens of laws would overlap and collide.”

The California Labor Federation, an umbrella organization for unions that represents about 2 million California workers, said in an amicus brief that even before Trump fired the NLRB chief, the federal agency’s backlog had been a problem, leading to companies being able to delay bargaining in good faith with their employees’ unions without consequences.

If the California law is overturned, employees who have formed unions but have not succeeded in securing contracts with employers such as Amazon and Starbucks — which are among the companies seeking to have the NLRB declared unconstitutional — may continue to face delays, according to Logan. Or, he said, it’s not clear what would happen if other workers tried to organize and their companies simply fired them.

“The NLRB defunctness is a scandal which cries out for political reform,” Gould said.

As the clock strikes midnight across time zones, people gather to celebrate the new year.

We take a look at the shared joy and traditions in these photos.
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Reveler use their smartphones to film the falling balloons and confetti as they celebrate the start of 2026 during the New Year countdown event held at a shopping mall in Beijing, early Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.

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Revellers watch a fireworks and light show for children on Museumplein as part of New Year's Eve celebrations in Amsterdam on December 31, 2025.

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Members of the public gather to celebrate the New Year during the annual bell-tolling ceremony at the Bosingak Pavilion on January 01, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea.

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Fireworks explode over skyscrapers during New Year celebrations on January 01, 2026 in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines.

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People buy batons that read happy New Year 2026 on December 31, 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands lined the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok as the country welcomed the new year.

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Fireworks explode from the Taipei 101 building during the New Year's celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.

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Revellers watch the New Year's Eve fireworks from the The Huc Bridge at Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi on Jan. 1, 2026.

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People attend the New Year countdown event to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.

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Fireworks explode around the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, during New Year's Eve celebrations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026.

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People pose for pictures near illuminated decorations on New Year's Eve in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.

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Revellers watch fireworks during the New Year celebrations in Karachi on January 1, 2026.

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Iraqis gather in Baghdad's Al-Zawraa Park during New Year's Eve celebrations on December 31, 2025.

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Onlookers stand beside light ornaments on New Year's Eve at Bakrkoy Square in Istanbul on Dec. 31, 2025.

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People strike a giant bell to celebrate the New Year at the Zojoji Buddhist temple, minutes after midnight Thursday Jan. 1, 2026, in Tokyo.

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A couple takes a selfie as the last sunset of 2025 is seen over the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.

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People watch and take photos as the Ferris wheel displays "Happy New Year" in 16 different languages at Pacific Park on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 in Santa Monica.

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Millions of Americans are facing higher health care premiums in the new year after Congress allowed Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire. But earlier this week, a bipartisan group of senators worked to strike a compromise that could resurrect the enhanced ACA premium tax credits — potentially blunting the blow of rising monthly payments for Obamacare enrollees.

"There's a number of Republican and Democratic senators who are seeing what a disaster this will be for families that they represent," Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said on Morning Edition Thursday. "That's the common ground here, and it's a doable thing."

Welch said he joined a bipartisan call Tuesday — first reported by Punchbowl News — in which a handful of senators charted out a possible health care compromise.

"We could extend the credits for a couple of years, we could reform it," Welch said of the call. "You could put an income cap, you could have a copay, you could have penalties on insurers who commit fraud. You actually could introduce some cost saving reductions that have bipartisan support."

But according to Welch, this legislation is only doable with President Trump's blessing.

"It would require that President Trump play a major role in this, because he has such influence over the Republican majority in the House and even in the Senate," Welch said.

Last fall, Republicans and Democrats fought bitterly over the Obamacare subsidy extension, causing a political standoff that led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Meanwhile, Trump has remained relatively hands-off, withholding his support for any health care legislation.

Despite these obstacles, Welch said he believes the jump in prices that people across the country now face will break the logjam in Congress.

"A farmer in Vermont, their premium is going to go from $900 a month to $3,200, a month," Welch said. "So they're going to really face sticker shock. There's going to be a secondary impact, because the hospitals, particularly in rural areas, are going to lose revenue."

But even if the Senate advanced a compromise bill on the ACA, the House would also have to get behind it. And the lower chamber has its own bipartisan effort on an ACA subsidy extension.

Just before the recess began in mid-December, four House Republicans joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition on a three-year extension of the ACA subsidies — forcing a floor vote on the bill when the House returns.

Hours after bucking House Speaker Mike Johnson and joining Democrats, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., told Morning Edition back in December that he thinks this vote will get even more Republican support.

"I don't like the clean extension without any income cap," Fitzpatrick said. "But given the choice between a clean three-year extension and letting them expire, that's not a hard choice for me. And I suspect many of my other colleagues are going to view it the same way."

Fitzpatrick and Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., have held meetings with moderate senators on legislative paths to extend the ACA subsidies, a source familiar with the talks but not authorized to speak publicly tells NPR.

The Senate returns on Jan. 5 and the House comes back to Capitol Hill on Jan. 6.

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