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September 23, 2026 -- Trump et al are cutting the Veterans Administration (VA). This must stop! We must keep our promise to our veterans.

I have worked at several VA sites and count several vets among my friends. Pretty much all are pleased -- even very pleased -- with the quality of the care they receive...or received. Until now.

One once said, "Everything is 'wrong' with the VA... It is socialized medicine. It is government-run. Its workers are unionized. Care is provided to servicemembers and their families regardless of rank or ability to pay. Yet, in terms of objectively verifiable outcome measures, it outperforms the US private sector." So Trump/DOGE/rightwingers, hands off!

The Trump administration has implemented significant budget cuts to the VA, profoundly impacting the agency's ability to serve veterans with historic staffing losses - over 40,000 VA employees left in fiscal year 2025, including 1,000 physicians and 3,000 registered nurses.

In Veterans Have Borne Trump Administration's Deep Cuts to Federal Personnel, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities alerts us that the federal government policy of hiring veterans when possible and appropriate, "...with veterans accounting for roughly 30 percent of all federal employees in recent years." Many have now been laid off. Thus, the heartless and counterproductive cuts hurt veterans this way, too: they lose their jobs and their healthcare.

Staffing reduction-caused issues in the VA:

  • Increased wait times for appointments and services due to fewer healthcare providers,
  • Reduced quality of care, especially in mental health services,
  • Operational challenges straining the VA's ability to meet the healthcare needs of veterans.

In Cuts, Cover-Ups, & Chaos: Blumenthal Releases Report Exposing Harm of the Trump Administration's Ongoing Assault on Veterans, the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs reports on "... the harm and impacts of the Trump Administration's draconian directives and cuts on veterans." And, they tell us, "...the Trump Administration has often refused to provide Congress with even the most basic information about their policies and their impact on veterans." A cover-up indeed. Here is Blumenthal's report. "...the Trump Administration has spent the last year recklessly implementing politically-motivated policies that place veterans' care and benefits at greater risk than ever before. The costs of these policies are mounting. VA is hemorrhaging doctors, mental health professionals, nurses, and other frontline providers. Experienced staff are leaving in droves, while recruitment falters amid toxic working conditions and indiscriminate firings. The resulting harm to the quality and timeliness of care will be felt for years. And this growing damage helps explain why the Trump Administration has often refused to provide Congress with even the most basic information about their policies and their impact on veterans."

Will the VA continue to be able to fulfill its mission? The future of veterans' healthcare is at stake.