Policy Focus: Veterans and the VA
Petition Signers and Friends
In today's update, we thought we'd focus on an important piece of Project 2025: how it affects our nation's veterans.
The Mandate for Leadership dedicates chapter 20 (p 641-655) to the Department of Veterans Affairs and reminds us that the VA "is the primary provider of health care, benefits, and memorial affairs for America’s veterans and their families."
It should be revolting, then, that the document makes several suggestions that will negatively affect the wellbeing of our veterans and their families. For example:
⭐ Revise disability rating awards which determine eligibility for claims to reap “significant cost savings” (p. 650)
⭐ Narrow eligibility by excluding disabilities that cannot be directly related to military service (p. 649)
⭐ Rescind all directives dealing with abortion services and gender reassignment surgery (p. 644)
⭐ Assess the “misalignment” of VHA facilities in urban and rural areas (p. 646)
It also proposes frightening changes to the VA’s leadership and workforce:
⭐ Replace VA leadership on the first day to “ensure political control of the VA” (p. 651) by appointing from a “fully vetted roster of candidates” for all key positions (p 652)
⭐ Seek “creative ways to instill teamwork, loyalty, and pride” in lieu of monetary pay and bonuses (p. 652)
⭐ Outsource more services to private companies for exams (p. 649), claims processing (p. 650), and recruitment (p. 650).
⭐ Sunset the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (p. 653)
Recall that Project 2025’s sweeping reforms call for a federal workforce reduction of 75% in just five years, and 30% of all federal employees are veterans. That’s 300,000 unemployed veterans.
Please share this update with every veteran you know and encourage them and their families to add their names to this petition. At the time of writing, we’re just 10 names away from 300.
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If you haven't yet added your name to our petition, please click here.
Sincerely,
PS: A shout out to our friends at the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.