Blumenthal Statement on Release of Annual Veteran Suicide Report

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today issued a statement following the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) release of its National Veterans Suicide Prevention annual report, revealing a slight decrease in the rate of veteran suicide from 2023 to 2024.

"The high rate of veteran suicide remains distressing. We need to allocate every resource we can to reduce this grim number. That starts with safeguarding resources for the Veterans Crisis Line, hiring more mental health professionals at VA, and ensuring every single veteran seeking mental health care gets that care in a timely manner. I'll continue working to bolster the suicide prevention and mental health care programs veterans need and fight the Trump Administration's efforts to cut mental health care positions amid the hemorrhaging of providers at the Department."

VA's report shows 6,488 veterans died by suicide in 2024. Additionally, 62% of veterans who died by suicide in 2024 had no contact with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and were not receiving VA benefits. This data highlights the importance of both strengthening VA's direct care system and expanding outreach and suicide prevention efforts for veterans who are not engaged in VHA health care. The report also details that firearms were involved in approximately 74% of veterans suicides, up 68% since 2001. This is the area with the least progress after 20 years.

Since the beginning of the second Trump Administration, VA Secretary Collins has eliminated thousands of mental health care clinical positions instead of bolstering them. From January 2025 to June 2026, VA cut 600 psychologist and 1,600 social worker positions, barring medical centers from being able to recruit for those roles. In January, Blumenthal's released a comprehensive report, Breaking the Pact: Impacts of Trump, DOGE, and Doug Collins' Ongoing Assault on Veterans, detailing the harm and impacts of the Trump Administration's draconian directives and cuts on veterans. Among its many findings, the report revealed a historic loss of staff, dire health care staffing shortages, and spiking VA mental health care wait times.

Blumenthal has been a stanch fighter to improve and expand veterans' mental health care. In 2025, he introduced the BRAVE Act-comprehensive legislation to strengthen VA's mental health workforce, infrastructure, and services, including renewing the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program. This first-of-its-kind grant provides funding for local organizations combatting veteran suicide. Blumenthal also successfully attached an amendment to protect the life-saving Veterans Crisis Line from future cuts by the Trump Administration in the Fiscal Year 2026 federal funding bill.

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