Blumenthal Statement on VA Doctors' Warning that Trump Admin's Cuts & Firings Have Weakened Veterans' Health Care

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today released a statement following a letter penned by nearly seventy active Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors stressing their urgent concerns that the Trump Administration's cuts, firings, and other cost-cutting workforce directives are damaging VA's health care system and will "negatively affect the lives of all veterans."

"Courageously and powerfully, VA physicians are sounding an alarm-in fact, a five alarm fire-on devastating damage to VA health care as a result of this Administration's funding cuts, contract cancellations, and personnel firings. Their warnings, made at great personal risk, need to be heeded. I've sounded a similar alarm for months, but these professionals have expert firsthand knowledge of how Collins's cruel, reckless missteps are threatening and degrading VA health care."

The health care professionals' letter is the first time VA physicians have collectively warned about the negative impact of the Trump Administration's workforce cuts, amid existing health care staffing shortages at the Department. Many VA physicians and other providers signed the letter with their full names and position titles, stating to the Guardian this action was "a risk they're willing to take."

VA's health care system is the largest integrated health care system in the country, serving more than nine million veterans. Previous reporting has detailed the significant loss of thousands of VA staff working in direct care and veteran-facing roles at the Veterans Health Administration in fiscal year 2025.

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