President Obama is hosting a dinner at the White House for Iraq war veterans later this month to mark the end of the Iraq war and honor the veterans who served in it.

The White House announced the dinner on Monday, which White House press secretary Jay Carney said would be held as an “expression of the nation’s gratitude.”

Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, has proposed legislation that would exempt veterans' health programs from any of the required $600 billion in sequestration cuts required this year under the Budget Control Act.

H.R. 3895, the Protect VA Healthcare Act, was introduced after Miller tried to get Obama administration officials to confirm that they would spare VA health programs from any of the cuts, which are required after the supercommittee failed last year to reach an agreement to trim federal spending.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno defended Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's attention-grabbing Afghanistan comments, saying that it has been the U.S. strategy "all along" to transition power to that country's forces.  

President Obama has signed an executive order issuing new sanctions against Iran and Iran’s central bank.

With President Obama’s 2013 budget release delayed by one week, the defense community is in a holding pattern as it awaits the full details of the Pentagon’s 2013 budget — the first to implement a $487 billion cut over the next decade.

The president’s 2013 budget was supposed to be released on Monday, followed by a series of hearings on Capitol Hill, starting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.

But now, with the budget coming out on Feb. 13, the sessions of the House and Senate Armed Services committees that were scheduled for Panetta and Dempsey are pushed back until Feb. 14, leaving a light hearing schedule for this week.

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. said the veto "put a stake" through efforts to remove Assad from power peacefully.

Nearly half of likely voters think military force should be used to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers said mixed signals from the U.S. had led to "friction" with Israel.

Egypt has decided to put Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's son on trial for his work promoting democracy in the country.