Senator Murray Outlines How Trump Administration Has Undercut VA Research, Vows to Reject Budget Cuts

***WATCH: Senator Murray's full opening remarks***

Washington, D.C. - Today, at a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee (SVAC) hearing on the future of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) research-U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a former chair and senior member of SVAC, delivered the following opening remarks.

Senator Murray's remarks, as delivered, are below:

"Look, I think Senators on both sides of this aisle have a real appreciation of VA's research enterprise, which has been at the forefront of cutting-edge science for more than 100 years, it's led to breakthroughs like the pacemaker, the first successful liver transplant, the nicotine patch, and CT scanning.

"But I am not sure that the Trump administration has that same appreciation. And I am very concerned the actions by this administration have demoralized VA research staff, and have created instability in research funding, and put up barriers that has slowed the research process.

"On the very first day of the Trump Administration, all VA research staff became subject to a hiring freeze and probationary firings. As a result - research at the Pittsburgh VA to predict stroke risk was put on hold, enrollment into clinical trials for advanced cancer was delayed, and a clinical trial in Florida on preventing dementia and heart disease was cancelled.

"And look, Mr. Chairman, I could go on. I have heard a lot of stories like that.

"The Department also enforced vacancy cuts and staffing caps on its facilities. Though these cuts technically exclude research staff, a study at a VA site in the Pacific Northwest was delayed because staffing caps prevented them from hiring nurses who were needed to administer that study.

"These workforce actions have also taken a toll on employees at VA's Central Office responsible for getting new research studies up and running.

"VA researchers now report startup times for their studies often stretch to more than a year. Those delays are partially due to a wildly inefficient hiring process for VA research staff. Researchers are reporting to us that the time to hire a new member of their staff now often takes up to six months. As a result, a planned study on RSV missed its enrollment window and could not even enroll participants. Another clinical trial closed after it took six months to hire a researcher. The study's principal investigator and its lead clinician both resigned from the VA after this debacle.

"VA researchers are not only being undermined by delays and cuts at the Department, but also by instability and cuts at other federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health, which frequently provides funding for our VA researchers. For example, a VA researcher's NIH grant for studying opioid use disorder among minority veterans was cancelled-why? Because it was deemed 'DEI-related.'

"Large VA research sites are also reporting their non-VA federal funding is down one-third or more compared to the previous year.

"And in one final blow to research, the Office of Management and Budget published a proposed rule that would require all federal grants, including those for VA research, to be approved by political appointees. That doesn't make sense-let the political appointees overrule the scientist on what research is worth pursuing and funding.

"Given the current state of VA research under this administration - there is a demoralized workforce with limited access to non-VA federal funding - so it is really inexplicable to request a decrease in funding for VA research for fiscal year 2027.

"I am speaking here in place of Senator Blumenthal, but I can tell you right now as Vice Chair of Appropriations it is my intention to rip up Trump's budget up and write a new one.

"I really hope our VA witnesses will take the concerns raised in this hearing seriously and commit to taking action to address them. If VA wants to ensure it can recruit and retain the brightest minds to conduct research and provide clinical care for our nation's heroes, it has to work to restore the trust it has lost with many of its research staff.

"This committee and this congress should stand up for research. And it should stand up for science. And it should stand up for veterans-that's where I am, Mr. Chairman."

###