Leo Shane III
Deputy Editor
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
All Stories By Leo
Lawmaker proposes Iranian Campaign Medal for strikes on nuclear sites
Pilots and supporting service members involved in the complex airstrikes would be eligible for the new military medal.
VA claims backlog improves, but still sits far above pre-pandemic levels
The claims backlog is nearly three times higher than in early 2020.
Lawmakers draw battle lines for FY23 defense spending ahead of White House budget release
The president's budget plan for fiscal 2023 is set to be unveiled on March 28.
Plan to drop thousands of caregivers from Veterans Affairs program put on hold
The move is a stunning turnaround for the department, which for months has maintained the moves are necessary.
Many VA workers remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, but few have been fired
Department officials say only a handful of employees have been dismissed for refusing the vaccine mandate.
This week in Congress: Veterans’ caregivers voice concerns over VA changes
Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of March 21, 2022.
Honor Flight officials press to resume police escorts for veterans
Trips bringing elderly vets to national war memorials resumed last fall, but police escorts to facilitate the visits have not.
Veterans Affairs eyes relaxed hiring rules as staff turnover slowly worsens
New authorities given to VA hiring officials during the pandemic are set to expire soon.
VA works to ease staff concerns about facility closure recommendations
The infrastructure plan would impact hundreds of VA facilities in nearly every state across America.
Serious issues with VA electronic health records system remain unresolved, watchdog says
The new reports are the latest complications for the $16-billion plan to overhaul VA's records system.
