The VA provides disability compensation for birth defects to the children of women Vietnam veterans, but not to the children of men who served in the war.
With how futures markets are structured, officials could place bets anonymously and influence combat operations to ensure they get a payout, experts say.
The White House's proposed budget for fiscal 2027 includes a pay raise for junior enlisted service members and other pay grades, ranging from 5% to 7%.
The rosy analysis was prompted by the monthly jobs report, which showed the jobless rate for all veterans came down from 4.1% in February to 3.9% in March.