According to administrators and former workers who kept Veterans Administration hospitals up, running and meeting the needs of U.S. veterans, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has brought nothing but disaster to their mission.
A deep dive from the New York Times reveals that deep cuts, firings and buying freezes have created a "chaotic ripple effect" leading to, among other problems, clinical trials being suspended due to a lack of support and personnel.
According to the report, changes coming from the Trump administration have "disrupted studies involving patients awaiting experimental treatments, forced some facilities to fire support staff and created uncertainty amid the mass cancellation, and partial reinstatement, of hundreds of contracts targeted by Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency."
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That, in turn, has k led some Republican lawmakers to express alarm at the DOGE overreach, with the Times reporting Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) admitting, "We want to make sure veterans get the care they need.”
According to the Times' Roni Caryn Rabin and Nicholas Nehamas, "Among the 2,400 employees fired from the V.A. since Mr. Trump’s inauguration are workers who purchase medical supplies, schedule appointments and arrange rides for patients to see their doctors. Many are veterans themselves. All were 'probationary' employees, meaning they were relatively new on the job and had fewer legal protections. Some may be reinstated, pending court action."
The report notes that one critical problem brought about by the cuts is the suspension of critical trials, "one of the agency’s core missions, offering veterans early access to cutting-edge treatments that are still in clinical trials."
However, the Times is reporting, "Mr. Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order freezing government hiring cut off many of the V.A.’s critical research staff midway through studies, said Rashi Romanoff, the chief executive of the National Association of Veterans’ Research and Education Foundations, an association that supports partnerships between the veterans department and nonprofits."
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