King, Colleagues Call Out VA Secretary for Lack of Responsiveness During Shutdown

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC), joined members of the Committee to criticize the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for unnecessarily ending critical services for veterans during the government shutdown. In a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, King and his colleagues also called out the VA for politicizing the lapse in appropriations to end communication with Congress and halt operations, even though the Department has already been funded in a multi-year appropriations bill that remains unaffected by the current government shutdown.

"Congress has provided the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with multi-year funding, which ensures a government shutdown has minimal impact on veterans' health care and benefits," the lawmakers wrote. "That is why we are deeply concerned that your Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA) refuses to initiate, dispatch, or respond to congressional inquiries on behalf of our veteran constituents. Every single day, veterans and their families come to our offices for help in getting their health care and benefits from VA. Often, they come to us as their last resort. We take those concerns or their specific cases directly to VA and advocate on their behalf. Thus, any delay in responding to this outreach or dispatching their cases will cause harm to the veterans we serve…The Department must revisit this prioritization scheme and dedicate sufficient staff and resources necessary to accomplish the task of responding in a timely manner to ALL constituent casework requests initiated by Congress."

The lawmakers continued, "…[W]e know that previous administrations planned to continue dispatching and responding to congressional inquiries during government shutdowns by utilizing non-furloughed employees. The fact that VA has chosen not to prioritize communication with Congress on policy matters is clearly a leadership decision and a direct affront to our constitutional duty to oversee the work of the Department."

"To make matters worse, it appears that leaders within your Department have used congressionally appropriated funds to send politically charged messages to veterans and VA staff about the shutdown in what seem to be clear violations of the Hatch Act. We remind you and your leadership team that we are tracking these violations and taking them very seriously. While the Trump Administration may not enforce the Hatch Act currently, we will not hesitate to investigate these violations," the lawmakers wrote.

Joining King on this letter are U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and U.S. Representatives Mark Takano (D-CA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Herb Conaway (D-NJ), Maxine Dexter (D-OR), Tim Kennedy (D-NY), Kelly Morrison (D-MN), and Delia Ramirez (D-IL).

Representing one of the states with the highest rates of military families and veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America's servicemembers and veterans. A member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee (SVAC), he works to ensure American veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs such as the PACT Act, the State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care Flexibility Act, and the John Scott Hannon Act. Recently, in a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, Senator King joined his colleagues in urging for immediate action to secure veterans' personal information provided by VA or other agencies to Elon Musk and his "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), a measure that would protect millions of veterans' medical records stored in VA's computer systems. In addition, he helped pass the Veterans COLA Act, which increased benefits for 30,000 Maine veterans and their families.

Most recently, Senator King's legislation to improve customer service at the VA was signed into law by the President. He also introduced bipartisan legislation alongside SVAC Chairman Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) to improve care coordination for veterans who rely on both VA health care and Medicare. In February, Senator King was honored by the Disabled American Veterans as its 2025 Legislator of the Year. Last year, he was recognized by the Wounded Warrior Project as the 2024 Legislator of the Year for his "outstanding legislative effort and achievement to improve the lives of the wounded, ill, and injured veterans."

The full text of the lawmakers' letter is available here and below.

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Dear Mr. Secretary:

We write to urge you to reverse your weaponization of the current lapse in appropriations and restore vital congressional communications to ensure our veterans receive the care and benefits they deserve, which are covered by multi-year appropriations and should not be affected by the current shutdown.

Congress has provided the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with multi-year funding, which ensures a government shutdown has minimal impact on veterans' health care and benefits. That is why we are deeply concerned that your Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA) refuses to initiate, dispatch, or respond to congressional inquiries on behalf of our veteran constituents. Every single day, veterans and their families come to our offices for help in getting their health care and benefits from VA. Often, they come to us as their last resort. We take those concerns or their specific cases directly to VA and advocate on their behalf. Thus, any delay in responding to this outreach or dispatching their cases will cause harm to the veterans we serve.

We understand that a lapse in appropriations requires certain nonessential functions to cease. However, it is imperative that the Department continue to be fully open, transparent and communicative with elected representatives in Congress. This is why we find the October 2, 2025, communication from OCLA Assistant Secretary Don Bergin to our Committees so troubling.

Not only does it show a lack of commitment to the relationship with Congress in overseeing the work that we have mandated to continue during a shutdown, but it also diminishes the role of Senators and Representatives in protecting the health and welfare of our veterans, a concern which we know you share. And nowhere is this lack of prioritization more acutely felt than with respect to casework submitted to OCLA by Member offices. While we understand that, according to Assistant Secretary Bergin, "…casework involving the health and welfare of veterans will be prioritized…" during this lapse in appropriations, it is difficult to rationalize how EVERY veteran-related casework would not be categorized as necessary to protect the life and property of veterans. The Department must revisit this prioritization scheme and dedicate sufficient staff and resources necessary to accomplish the task of responding in a timely manner to ALL constituent casework requests initiated by Congress.

Moreover, we are troubled that Assistant Secretary Bergin asserts that, "VA cannot initiate, dispatch, or respond to congressional request…" during this shutdown. The use of the word "cannot" is likely intentional in this context. It is also greatly misleading. We know that OCLA has carryover funding at its disposal during this shutdown and may choose which activities to prioritize with that funding. Additionally, we know that previous administrations planned to continue dispatching and responding to congressional inquiries during government shutdowns by utilizing non-furloughed employees. The fact that VA has chosen not to prioritize communication with Congress on policy matters is clearly a leadership decision and a direct affront to our constitutional duty to oversee the work of the Department.

To make matters worse, it appears that leaders within your Department have used congressionally appropriated funds to send politically charged messages to veterans and VA staff about the shutdown in what seem to be clear violations of the Hatch Act. We remind you and your leadership team that we are tracking these violations and taking them very seriously. While the Trump Administration may not enforce the Hatch Act currently, we will not hesitate to investigate these violations.

To that end, we respectfully request the following information as soon as possible:

1. Please provide us with a "status of funds" report for the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs, along with a specific breakdown of prior fiscal year carryover and a delineation of which activities within OCLA this funding has been dedicated toward.
2. Please provide a breakdown of current staffing levels within OCLA, disaggregated by function. Additionally, we would like a breakdown of how many staff have left OCLA since January 3, 2025, disaggregated by reason for their departure to include retirement (regular or VERA), Delayed Resignation Program, termination, reassignment or other.
3. According to Assistant Secretary Bergin's message, OCLA staff is "…committed to working on government shutdown activities." Please provide a detailed description of those activities, along with a list of which specific staff are assigned what duties during this shutdown.
   1. Which if any staff of OCLA are involved in planning for the White House's planned Reductions in Force during this lapse in appropriations, which appear to violate the law?
   2. Which if any staff of OCLA have been involved in the shutdown-related messages sent to employees and veterans on behalf of the Department in apparent violation of the Hatch Act?
4. It has come to our attention that information has continued to be shared with the House Committee on Veterans Affairs (HVAC) Majority, which has not been shared with either the HVAC Minority or the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs Majority and Minority, even after the shutdown commenced, contrary to Mr. Bergin's message. Please provide us with all communications sent to the HVAC Majority of which the Minority was not copied or provided.

Mr. Secretary, we respect that you have the difficult task of maintaining access to care and benefits during an uncertain funding environment. However, it is crucial that you view the Congress as a partner in this effort, and not the enemy. Therefore, we encourage you to continue robust communication with Congress and dedicate sufficient time, both staff and your own, to the task.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. And we look forward to your timely response.

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