Following Pushback from Veterans & Lawmakers, Trump Administration to Kill Disastrous New Policy for Disabled Veterans

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today released a statement after the Trump Administration indicated it would permanently rescind its new policy that would change how veteran disability ratings are evaluated. This Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policy would have lowered disability ratings and compensation awards for disabled veterans who rely on medications to manage their health conditions by ignoring the true severity of their disabilities.

"The Secretary has indicated he will permanently rescind a cruel and dangerous policy that never should have been considered-slashing disability benefits for thousands of veterans. His overdue action is a credit to the tens of thousands of veterans who made their voices heard. This policy would have put veterans in an impossible situation of choosing between taking the life-improving medication they need or risk losing their earned benefits. A veteran's disability rating must be strictly based on that veteran's underlying condition, and I will be introducing legislation to ensure any Administration can never try to cut veterans' benefits in this way again."

VA Secretary Collins temporarily halted implementation of the policy last week following backlash from veterans, Veterans Service Organizations, and lawmakers. However, he did not outright rescind the rule. In response, Blumenthal, House Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA), and his colleagues sent a letter on Tuesday demanding Collins immediately permanently rescind the policy. More than 20,000 public comments have been made opposing the Administration's policy, which was made without providing advance notice to or consulting with veterans or Congress.

Last week, VA published an interim final rule to change how veteran disability ratings are evaluated without the normal public comment period. This new rule reverses the previous standard established by the Ingram v. Collins court case issued in 2025, which required VA to discount the impact of medication when evaluating the severity of claims disability. Instead, the rule directs examiners to rate veterans' disabilities as they present and disregard the impact of medication. This would have required VA to issue a lower disability ratings, despite evidence showing veterans meet the requirements for higher ratings.

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