Rebecca Kheel

Rebecca Kheel specializes in covering Congress for Military.com, holding lawmakers accountable for how their decisions affect military personnel and veterans. She has covered the intersection of Congress and the military for nearly a decade, previously working as a defense reporter at The Hill. Kheel’s award-winning work has been recognized with the 2022 Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Honorable Mention for National Defense Reporting and the 2023 Joe Galloway Award from Military Reporters & Editors, among other honors.

Prior to coming to Washington, D.C., she was a local reporter at the Orange County Register in her home state of California. She has a bachelor’s degree in newspaper journalism and history from Syracuse University.

Email: rebecca.kheel@military.com

Latest Articles

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., smiles as he speaks to supporters during an election night rally at the Elks Lodge in Murphysboro, Ill.

House Approves Wide-Ranging Veterans Bill After Bipartisan Compromise Reached

A wide-ranging veterans policy bill that would bolster home caregiver programs and support for homeless veterans, among other...

Who Is Doug Collins? A Look at Trump's Pick to Head the VA

The former Georgia congressman is a Southern Baptist minister and Air Force colonel.

ultrasound in the Women’s Health Clinic at Wilford Hall Surgical Ambulatory Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland

Lawmakers Want More Flexibility for Pregnant Troops to Change Tricare Plans

In an effort to improve prenatal care for troops and family members, a group of lawmakers wants to give Tricare users more...

Aaron Provost Illustration for Military.com

Toxic Exposure Screenings: Vets Report Spotty Follow-Up on Questionnaire Meant to Boost Health Care and Benefits

Rolled out with great fanfare in November 2022, toxic exposure screenings for all VA patients were mandated by the PACT Act...

Pete Hegseth shakes hands with Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance

'He's Going to Have to Explain It': Surprise Defense Secretary Pick's History Takes Center Stage

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's surprise pick to be the next defense secretary, has an extensive history of...

Voting assistance brochure at Moody Air Force Base

Fewer Military Ballots Mailed from Overseas Ahead of 2024 Election Compared to 2020

About 20,000 fewer military ballots were cast by mail from overseas in the weeks leading up to this year's election than in...

Lights shine inside the U.S. Capitol Building

15 Congressional Races Involving Veterans Remain Uncalled

So far, 80 veterans who ran for Congress in one of the two major parties this year have won, while 94 have lost, according to...

Trump Impeachment Whistleblower Vindman Wins House Seat in Veteran vs. Veteran Race

Retired Army Lt. Col. Eugene Vindman, the twin brother of one of the main witnesses in Trump's first impeachment who also...

Republican Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy

Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Falls to Navy SEAL Veteran in Key Senate Race

Tim Sheehy's victory over the three-term incumbent pads the majority Republicans will have in the Senate in the next session...

A U.S. airman assigned to the 180th Fighter Wing in Swanton, Ohio, wears a voting sticker on Election Day 2016. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Shane Hughes)

Live Election Updates: Trump Wins, Senate Flips

Former President Donald Trump secured enough electoral college votes to return to the White House, and there are plenty of...

Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event

Trump Won. Here's What That Could Mean for the Military.

Trump's election victory means he will have the opportunity to enact plans to use the military against what he calls domestic...

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough

VA Backtracks on Budget Shortfall Warning, Angering Lawmakers Who Vow an Investigation

In a memo to lawmakers, VA officials said costs have been lower than expected, but that some of the things the department has...

Retired Vietnam POW Cmdr. Everett Alvarez Jr. looks at a bust of himself

Congress Eyes Top Honor for Navy Pilot Who Was Second-Longest Ever US Military POW

Lawmakers are working to award the Congressional Gold Medal to retired Cmdr. Everett Alvarez Jr., who spent eight and a half...

Souda Bay chaplain , instructs sailors about how to vote

GOP Lawsuit that Threatened Overseas Military Votes in Pennsylvania Is Thrown Out by Judge

U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner ruled that the lawsuit was brought too close to the election and that concerns about...

Trump Could 'Destroy' Pentagon and Upend Rule of Law if Reelected, Senate Armed Services Chairman Warns

Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., called for changes to the Insurrection Act and Posse Comitatus Act amid GOP presidential nominee...

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Most Popular Military News

Hegseth Paid Woman Who Accused Him of Sexual Assault over Fear for His Fox News Job, Lawyer Says

More details are emerging about an alleged 2017 sexual assault involving Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee...

Sgt. Jacqueline Speights, from 175th Surgical Detachment, 531st Hospital Center, prepares a sample for COVID-19 testing while Spc. Samuel Mawanda, from 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), records data at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital’s COVID-19 sample processing section within the hospital’s Department of Pathology, Jan. 24, 2022. (Maria Christina Yager/Army)

Tricare Changes are Coming in 2025. Here’s What Beneficiaries Need to Know Right Now

Tricare beneficiaries need to be aware of changes taking place in both the East and West regions and may need to take action...

U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor arrives at the ROTC building on a university campus

Kings of Campus: How Some Army Instructors Use Their Clout to Prey on College Cadets

To the young students in the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), the officers who run the programs on college...

Squad live fire exercise at Schofield Barracks

Thousands of Women Serve in Combat Roles. Pentagon Nominee Hegseth Says They Shouldn’t.

Pete Hegseth has made clear, in his own words, that he is critical of military service by women and more specifically opposes...

Veterans Affairs Officer Hit Man with Baton 45 Times as He ‘Screamed in Pain,’ Feds Say

The beating caused multiple injuries, including cuts on the man’s legs and a broken bone in his foot, according to...

Who Is Doug Collins? A Look at Trump's Pick to Head the VA

The former Georgia congressman is a Southern Baptist minister and Air Force colonel.

Latest Military Videos

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's D-Day Message

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower began drafting his Order of the Day for June 6, 1944, in February. It was...

French Military Training Ukrainian Troops Ahead of Battlefield Deployment

A French military task force with a festive name — “Champagne” — is wrapping up a mission that's no...

Ukraine Soldiers Focus on Keeping Russian Advances at Bay but Brace for Trump Taking Over in US

Ukrainian soldiers on the front know the re-election of Donald Trump in the U.S. will change their lives, but...

US Military Releases Video Said to Show Impact of Drone Strike on Houthi Rebels

The U.S. military on Wednesday said it had conducted several days of strikes targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels. (Nov. 14)...

Investigations and Features

Army Capt. Jeremy Kuykendall and his wife Kate, cradle their daughter

Unsupervised: Military Child Care Centers Slow to Report Abuse with Little Oversight

A Military.com investigation into military day care centers revealed that service branch rules generally prioritize...

A patch in the home of retired missileer Paul Hunke

They Stood Sentry over America's Nuclear Missile Arsenal. Many Worry It Gave Them Cancer.

For years, it was an open secret among missileers that the Cold War-era missile alert facilities and launch control centers...

Army News

Arthur Frommer, 83, and his daughter, Pauline Frommer, 46, pose among tourists

Arthur Frommer, Army Vet and Travel Guide Innovator, Has Died at 95

Travel writer Arthur Frommer, who revolutionized leisure travel for ordinary Americans with his guidebook “Europe on 5...

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the House GOP conference

Trump Backs 'Emergency' Plan to Use Military for Mass Deportations

Trump made mass deportation a major plank of his successful presidential campaign and has claimed more than 15 million...

Navy News

Cher's more formal look in her 1989 music video, "If I Could Turn Back Time," filmed aboard the battleship USS Missouri. (Criteron Studios)

How Cher's 'Turn Back Time' Music Video Made Even the Navy Blush

A video featuring Cher singing to a rowdy group of American sailors would have been no trouble for anyone involved -- if it...

A view of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, which is across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia.

Navy Shutters Premier East Coast Substance Abuse Program Amid Staffing Shortages

The program, in an aging building at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia, has struggled to retain employees.

Air Force News

Privately owned vehicles wait to enter through the Dale Mabry gate at MacDill Air Force Base.

MacDill Airman Gets 5 Years Of Probation in 'Undead Apes' Blockchain Fraud

U.S. District Judge William Jung sentenced Devin Rhoden to five years’ probation, a reflection of Rhoden’s substantial...

Two Air Force Special Operations Command CV-22B Ospreys fly low and fast in formation on a training range

The Osprey's Safety Issues Spiked over Five Years and Caused Deaths. Pilots Still Want to Fly It

The Osprey is back in the air after being grounded for months following a crash last November that killed eight U.S. service...

Space Force News

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink 4-36 payload launches

Pentagon Silent on Elon Musk and Starlink Risks as Military Use Expands

In the past year, U.S. news outlets have reported that Musk, who oversees the satellite internet provider, has developed a...

The flag of the U.S. Space Command is unfurled at the White House

Colorado Could Lose US Space Command. Trump Is Expected to Move It to Alabama.

Trump's original decision to place Space Command -- the combatant command tasked with military operations in space that was...

Marine Corps News

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln

Marine Corps F-35C Was Used in Combat for First Time to Strike Houthis, Military Confirms

Traveling at speeds of 1,200 mph, the F-35C can carry Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, air-to-air missiles and other...