Senate passes veterans toxic exposure healthcare bill after contentious delay

The Senate passed veteran healthcare legislation Tuesday after a contentious delay brought about by a group of Republican senators blocking the bill over a budget measure.

The measure passed by a vote of 86-11, a bipartisan supermajority easily exceeding the 60-vote threshold to clear a filibuster. President Joe Biden hailed the passage of the “biggest expansion of benefits for service-connected health issues in 30 years and the largest single bill ever to comprehensively address exposure to burn pits” in a statement issued by the White House afterward.