Last week, Senate Republicans blocked the passage of the PACT Act, which would expand health care access to veterans exposed to burn pits. Their opposition — ostensibly because they wanted to vote on an amendment offered by Sen. PAT TOOMEY (R-Pa.), but difficult to divorce from the broader context of Democrats’ breakthrough on reconciliation talks

The vote brings the bill one step closer to law after years of advocacy from veterans support groups and health care organizations that have argued a range of health conditions from emphysema to glioblastoma, the cancer that killed Biden’s son, retired Major Beau Biden, can be linked to burn pits used to incinerate toxic waste for years at overseas military locations.