Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Democrats also launch new website to track Trump VA’s responsiveness to oversight letters from Congress
Washington, D.C. – In a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), called out Secretary Collins for his failure to be transparent and accountable to veterans, Congress, and American taxpayers around his cuts and recent policy changes at VA.
“Congress and this Administration should be working together to provide the best possible care, benefits and services for our nation’s veterans and their families, and your failure to be transparent about your actions at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is wholly unacceptable,” the senators wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Collins. “As you are aware, Congress has a constitutionally-mandated obligation of oversight over executive agencies. However, VA under your leadership has been historically secretive and partisan, and overtly adversarial to any attempts at such oversight.”
The senators delivered a searing review of Collins’ leadership and lack of communication with Congress: “…[Y]our communications lack timeliness, facts, and adequacy…Since your confirmation, the Department has also reduced or cancelled regular briefings on numerous topics, including homelessness, caregiver support and community care. And you have refused to allow members of Congress and staff to conduct roundtables and town halls at VA facilities to hear directly from employees and veterans about their concerns – violating years of precedent.” In an unprecedented move in April, the Trump administration refused to allow VA Puget Sound to participate in a roundtable discussion Senator Murray held in Seattle on women veterans’ health care.
The senators also slammed Collins’ denial of basic Freedom of Information Act requests and insistence that media outlets change evidence-based reporting with no substantial proof to support those requests: “This vindictive secrecy is unprecedented, and demonstrates your consistent unwillingness to allow anyone to hold you accountable for your actions…This blatant obstruction of Congress, and lack of transparency and accountability to America’s veterans and taxpayers must not continue. ” The senators concluded their letter by demanding Collins commit to new timeliness and oversight parameters, including allowing members of Congress and staff to visit VA facilities and ensuring VA answer Congressional Requests for Information with 45 calendar days.
The text of the senators’ letter is available HERE.
In an effort to publicly track Trump VA’s responsiveness to Congress, Democrats on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee recently rolled out a new website page website to track responses to oversight letters Ranking Member Blumenthal has sent since the beginning of the Trump administration, January 18, 2025. This web page reveals the majority of oversight letters to VA either get no response or responses with minimal or inaccurate information.
This oversight website page can be found HERE and will be updated regularly.
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