No president in modern history did more for veterans than Donald Trump in his first term.His administration delivered the "Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act," the "Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act," and the Forever GI Bill, each one a win for veterans.
That legacy was set to grow even further in his second term.Now career VA bureaucrats are blocking the reforms that would extend it.
That will cost veterans their lives, and it could cost Republicans the midterms.The most significant of these reforms was the "VA MISSION Act of 2018," which gave veterans the right to choose between VA and community care.Congress is now debating the "Take Care of America’s Veterans Act," built in part on that same MISSION Act foundation, with a vote expected in the coming weeks.The Biden administration rolled back those MISSION Act gains.
Access to community care narrowed and wait times at VA facilities grew.A VA inspector general investigation found that delays at the Fayetteville, Ark., VA contributed to a cancer patient’s death.
In Hampton, Va., the VA cut off chiropractic care for veterans managing chronic pain, leaving many of them choosing between opioids and no treatment at all.Veterans expected a second Trump administration to reverse that damage.Instead, career staff inside the VA have worked to slow it down, failing to consistently follow the MISSION Act or Secretary Doug Collins’s reform guidance.
Many of them built their careers inside that system, and they resist anything that gives veterans more reason to walk out the door for care.They do not believe in the choice Trump won for veterans in 2018.
They would rather keep veterans inside a failing system than lose control of it.AMERICA'S WOUNDED, STRUGGLING VETERANS GET BRAND-NEW HOMES BUILT BY FLORIDA TEENSPresident Donald Trump, center, salutes passing troops during a parade to honor the Army's 250th anniversary, coinciding with Trump's 79th birthday...