I served in combat with the U.S. Army. Like many veterans, I know that men and women who come home carrying the physical and mental costs of war rely on disability payments to maintain mortgages and keep their families afloat. These funds help people rebuild lives that were permanently changed during their years of service and sacrifice.

Benefits are meant to help families recover from the physical and mental costs of war, yet they too often become a revenue stream for law firms that specialize in VA appeals.

Navigating the VA’s disability system is rarely simple. Many veterans are already coping with serious injuries, mental health challenges, or financial stress as they transition back to civilian life. Confronting a complicated bureaucracy on top of that can feel like fighting another battle — which is why veterans should have access to a range of options for help.

The current system often leaves veterans with limited options, partly because when disability claims are delayed and pushed into drawn-out appeals, attorneys are allowed to collect a percentage of the veteran’s eventual award. The longer the process drags on, the larger the payout.

The Department of Veterans Affairs paid $394.7 million to accredited attorneys over the past year — money taken directly from veterans who fought to earn those benefits. The CHOICE Act (H.R. 3132) would help ensure that those benefits stay with the veterans who earned them, not the lawyers who see them as a payday.

Federal law limits attorney fees in most VA disability cases at 20% of a veteran’s backpay award. Those guardrails exist for a reason: Without them, veterans’ benefits risk becoming just another profit center for the litigation industry.

Organizations representing trial lawyers spend millions lobbying Congress each year on issues affecting litigation and attorney compensation. Veterans’ disability claims are no exception. When legislation like the CHOICE Act seeks to limit attorney fees and protect veterans’ benefits, the trial bar mobilizes to protect its financial interests.

This opposition raises a simple question: When the debate is about veterans’ benefits, whose side are these lobbyists really on?

Does increasing the share of benefits that go to legal fees serve those who wore the uniform?

Benefits are meant to help families recover from the physical and mental costs of war, yet they too often become a revenue stream for law firms that specialize in VA appeals.

RELATED: The trial lawyers come for online free speech

Skodonnell/Getty Images

Veterans deserve strong advocates. The system should prioritize protecting them, not increasing the financial incentives tied to their benefits in an already strenuous process.

The complex VA benefits process can attract bad actors looking to profit from veterans navigating a complicated bureaucracy. Reputable companies that assist veterans with disability claims have been among the loudest voices calling for stronger oversight and clear rules to eliminate those abuses.

The CHOICE Act would establish guardrails that veterans deserve, including stronger consumer protections, limits on fees, and accountability for providers that violate the rules.

Congress must put veterans and their families first. The priority should not be filling trial lawyers’ deep pockets, but ensuring the system truly serves veterans’ best interests. When powerful lobbying organizations treat those benefits as a potential revenue opportunity, the system risks losing sight of whom it is meant to serve.

Our country made a promise: If you serve, and if service leaves you injured or disabled, the nation will stand behind you. The benefits belong to the veterans who earned them and not to the lawyers or lobbyists who see them as a revenue stream. Congress should pass the CHOICE Act and ensure those benefits serve the veterans they were meant for.

​Veterans, Va, Veteran benefits, Lawyers, Disability claims, Choice act, Bureaucracy, Opinion & analysis 

A man being sought by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to run over officers and was shot in Northern California on Tuesday, according to ICE.

Officers were performing a targeted vehicle stop on Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez in Patterson when he allegedly “weaponized” his vehicle and tried to run over officers.

KCRA-TV obtained dashcam video of the incident showing that the man put his car in reverse and then drove forward while surrounded by agents.

“Following their training, our officers fired defensive shots to protect themselves, their fellow agents, and the public,” reads a statement from ICE Director Todd M. Lyons on social media.

“The illegal alien was taken to a local hospital,” he added. “The FBI is on the scene.”

Lyons added that Hernandez was a member of the heinous 18th Street Gang from El Salvador and was wanted for questioning in relation to a murder.

No officers were injured in the shooting, and no law enforcement officers were involved in the shooting, according to the sheriff’s office.

KCRA-TV obtained dashcam video of the incident showing that the man put his car in reverse and then drove forward while surrounded by agents. At least one agent can be seen shooting into the car.

The driver, assumed to be Hernandez, continues to drive the vehicle over the median in the direction of oncoming traffic before it comes to a stop.

News helicopter footage from KCRA showed a lot of damage done to the car involved, including several gunshots in the windshield.

RELATED: A major win for student who posted pro-ICE posters at California high school: Report

On-ramps and off-ramps on the I-5 freeway were shut down for the investigation for hours afterward.

Patterson is a town of about 24K residents in Stanislaus County about 90 miles southeast of San Francisco. It is known as the “apricot capital of the world.”

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​Ice shoots man, Carlos ivan mendoza hernandez, 18 street gang attack, California ice shooting, Politics 

President Donald Trump announced that the United States has reached a ceasefire agreement with Iran just ahead of the deadline he set for its total destruction.

The president posted the message on Truth Social on Tuesday that the U.S. had met many of its military objectives.

‘I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.’

“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran,” he wrote, “and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”

Trump went on to say that the U.S. received a 10-point proposal from Iran and called it a “workable basis” upon which to negotiate.

“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” he added.

The president previously set a deadline of 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday night for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face total destruction. The ceasefire was reached about an hour before the deadline.

RELATED: ‘Give it up or go to jail’: Trump vows to hunt down whoever leaked info about downed pilot in Iran

“On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution,” he added. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

This is a developing story.

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​Trump ceasefire with iran, Trump war on iran, Us-israeli attack on iran, Strait of hormuz shut down, Politics