By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent
An explosive new investigative report has revealed how the Trump administration’s cuts are jeopardizing veterans’ health care. The Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit news outlet ProPublica said it obtained internal emails that expose how Trump’s cost-cutting measures have disrupted life-saving clinical trials, derailed cancer research, and left VA hospitals across the country short-staffed and scrambling to care for those who served. Despite Trump’s repeated promises to put veterans first—“We love our veterans,” he said in February—internal messages from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials tell a different story. The report details how VA doctors in Pennsylvania, Detroit, Colorado, and beyond have been sending urgent warnings to headquarters about the impact of layoffs, hiring freezes, and the abrupt cancellation of critical contracts. “Enrollment in clinical trials is stopping,” one email warned earlier this year. “Meaning veterans lose access to therapies.” That message, sent from VA doctors in Pennsylvania, stated more than 1,000 veterans would lose access to treatment for conditions ranging from metastatic head and neck cancers to traumatic brain injuries and kidney disease.
Though the administration later walked back some of the decisions, allowing certain trials to resume, other programs remain suspended. For example, two cancer trials in Pittsburgh for veterans with advanced head and neck cancer remain delayed. “It’s insane,” said Alanna Caffas, head of the Veterans Health Foundation in Pittsburgh. “These veterans should be able to get access to research treatments, but they can’t.” The disruptions come even as the VA is legally required to expand services under the PACT Act, which Congress passed to provide greater support for veterans suffering from exposure to Agent Orange, burn pits, and other toxic environments. Instead, ProPublica reports that the Trump administration is planning to eliminate at least 70,000 VA positions, aiming to shrink the agency back to its pre-PACT Act size. “The Biden Administration understood what it meant to pay for the cost of war; it seems the Trump Administration does not,” said Rep. Mark Takano, a California Democrat who authored the PACT Act. One of the most alarming findings involves the VA’s cancer registries—databases used to track treatment and recurrence. In the Pacific Northwest, officials said funding was “updated for immediate termination” by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a Trump-created office. In an email, VA staff in Detroit warned of the “inability to track oncology treatment and recurrences.” Without the data, providers say, cancer patients are at even greater risk.
In Colorado, social worker layoffs left homeless veterans without support. One month later, after pressure mounted, the VA reinstated some staff. VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz insisted the impact was minimal and said affected caseloads were temporarily reassigned. Kasperowicz also downplayed the internal warnings revealed by ProPublica. “The only thing these reports show is that VA has a robust and well-functioning system to flag potential issues and quickly fix them so we can provide the best possible care to Veterans,” he said. However, internal documents show that DOGE has drafted a transformation plan that includes consolidating operations, introducing artificial intelligence to manage benefits, and even proposing the closure of up to 29 VA hospitals. Kasperowicz denied that any closures are planned, stating, “Just because a VA employee wrote something down, doesn’t make it VA policy.” David Shulkin, who served as VA secretary during Trump’s first term, told ProPublica that the current approach prioritizes cuts over care. “I think it’s very, very hard to be successful with the approach that they’re taking,” he said. Rosie Torres, founder of the veterans advocacy group Burn Pits 360, called the revelations “gut-wrenching” and a “crisis in the making.” She told Pro Publica, “If they are killing contracts that may affect the delivery of care, then we have a right to know.” The outlet quoted an anonymous VA oncologist, who put it plainly: “Veterans’ lives are on the line,” the doctor told ProPublica. “Let us go back to work and take care of them.”
