Under the Trump administration, wait times for mental health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs have increased while morale among employees has plummeted with the loss of 40,000 people, Senate Democrats said in a new report released Thursday.
Actions taken by President Donald Trump, VA Secretary Doug Collins and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, in the past year have affected services and research at the VA, harmed workers and delayed care and benefits to veterans, said Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
According to the report, appointment wait times for new patients for mental health care now average 35 days and have grown in 15 states to more than 40 days — twice the VA’s standard — with veterans in Maryland waiting the longest with an average of 54 days. At one Ventura, California, VA clinic, wait times for behavioral health treatment rose to 121 days after seven of its 12 mental health providers left following a return to office mandate.
The VA has also lost 40,000 employees in the past year, 88% of whom worked in the Veterans Health Administration, according to the report. Beginning last year, the VA originally targeted 80,000 jobs for elimination through voluntary retirements, resignations and layoffs but later said it would trim 30,000 through attrition.
In December, the VA announced it plans to cut an additional 26,000 jobs from the Veterans Health Administration through attrition this year.
Collins has maintained that VA services have not been affected and health care jobs have been preserved. According to the report, however, the VA has lost roughly 1,000 physicians, 3,000 registered nurses, 700 social workers and 1,500 schedulers. In addition, the Veterans Benefits Administration has lost 1,500 claims examiners.
The disruptions, job losses and policies that have stymied treatment, research and services have created an environment that will have a “damaging and dangerous impact … that will be felt for years to come,” said Blumenthal.
“The trend we are seeing is frightening and deeply alarming because it will have a negative impact on our veterans,” Blumenthal said during a press call with reporters Thursday. “It rings a bell for all our veterans and all Americans that we will see a diminished and greatly reduced VA if it continues on the current trend line.”
Addressing employees and reporters in Baltimore, Maryland, this month, Collins said the cuts will not affect veteran services as they take into account unfilled vacancies and efficiencies.
“There are safety valves for every hospital and clinic in this system. If they need somebody, they can hire somebody,” Collins said. “We will make accommodations to make sure they get whoever they need if they have a position that takes away from patient quality, patient care.”
According to the report, in the past year: veterans waiting for decisions on old claims appeals have seen waits for a decision grow by nearly 1,000 days to 3,541 days; those struggling to make mortgage payments faced foreclosure after the VA cancelled a servicing purchase program designed to help them; and 75,000 students saw their education bills go unpaid after the department failed to issue checks for several education programs.
Blumenthal said VA employees have faced harassment and retaliation, the end of their collective bargaining rights under a March executive order and cancellation of contracts that provide vital health care support and services.
The “chaos,” he said, has resulted in loss of hospital beds, delays, and in some cases, loss of access to care for veterans, including abortion services and transgender care and staffing shortages.
“Veterans are increasingly paying the price for this Administration’s self-sabotage. And hard-working, talented VA employees are demoralized and exhausted by the malice and incompetence of their leadership,” Blumenthal said in the report.
The senator and others, including some Republicans, have noted that the VA has blocked attempts to obtain data and information from the department on the decisions and changes at the department under the Trump administration.
Blumenthal said he repeatedly has asked for detailed information on hundreds of contracts that were cancelled last year and has received no responses from the department.
“The VA has never been less forthcoming with facts or less transparent. They have refused disclosures to many of the questions posed by bipartisan groups of myself and my colleagues. The VA has refused to provide basic information,” Blumenthal said.
During a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing Thursday, Republican Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois, the committee’s chairman, also expressed outrage at the VA’s lack of transparency — in his case, providing testimony to his committee beforehand so the members could review it and formulate questions.
“This is the second time this week that the committee did not receive the testimony from VA in a timely manner. It is incredibly frustrating for staff and members to try to prepare for a hearing without having testimony to review prior to the hearing. If this were not such an incredibly important hearing, I would consider forbidding VA to be able to testify today,” Bost said.
The VA is planning to reorganize the Veterans Health Administration, which oversees health care for more than 9 million enrolled veterans, and engages in $1 trillion in contracts to provide veterans access to private care in their communities for up to 10 years.
In announcing the contracts this month, Collins said they would “dramatically improve” the VA’s ability to provide quality health care to veterans.
During the House hearing, VA Chief Financial Officer Richard Topping said he did not believe that the VA needed any new legislation to engage on the contracts.
But during the press conference, Blumenthal said that he hoped his fellow senators would insist that any kind of major outlay by the VA to community care would be “accompanied by safeguards” that would ensure the VA be held accountable.
“I’m hoping not only my Republican colleagues, but also veterans and their advocates … the veteran service organizations who represent veterans so well … will join in this effort to put safeguards and guardrails on that community care and limit it if it is affecting adversely the VA’s care for veterans,” Blumenthal said.
Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.