Democrats Sound Alarm on Veterans' Healthcare as DOGE Concerns Grow

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Two Democratic senators sounded the alarm on how the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could affect the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.

Why It Matters

The VA, which provides healthcare and other benefits to veterans and their families is one of the largest federal agencies with nearly 500,000 workers across the country—more than any agency other than the U.S. Postal Service.

President Donald Trump and DOGE chief Elon Musk are eyeing widespread cuts to federal agencies in the earliest days fo his second term with the goal of cutting red tape and saving taxpayer dollars. But critics are concerned that critical government services including veterans benefits could be affected.

What to Know

Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, and Patty Murray, of Washington, released statements this week warning about how DOGE could change the VA. However, Musk and Trump haven't specifically said they plan to implement major cuts at the VA.

Murray raised concerns about an Associated Press report indicating that DOGE officials have accessed sensitive information about Americans through the U.S. Treasury payment systems.

She wrote she is "already hearing that DOGE may have barged into VA today."

"Musk and his associates already have the personal financial information of every veteran receiving disability or education benefits because of their illegal data mining at the Department of Treasury. Will they now look at private health records of veterans?" she wrote in a statement.

Blumenthal also raised concerns about Musk having access to veterans' personal data, warning about "serious implications" raised by DOGE accessing the payment systems.

"It is reprehensible an unelected billionaire can freely access veterans' sensitive and personal information. President Trump must immediately put an end to this and protect veterans' benefits and privacy. Veterans risked their lives to defend this country, and they deserve more than to have unaccountable billionaires playing with the benefits they earned and rely on," he wrote.

Two veterans organizations, VoteVets and the Minority Veterans of America, previously joined a lawsuit challenging DOGE and raising concerns about transparency from the program, which is more of a task force than a traditional government agency and operates free from the scope of Congress.

According to a Data for Progress poll, 84 percent of Americans are either "somewhat" or "very" concerned about DOGE cutting veterans' healthcare. The poll surveyed 1,195 voters from December 14 to December 15, 2024.

As Democrats voice concerns about how DOGE may affect veterans, VA Secretary Doug Collins, who was confirmed this week, has said he plans to cut red tape to improve healthcare services for veterans.

In a statement released Wednesday, Collins wrote that he is "going to put Veterans at the center of everything VA does" and "challenge the status quo in order to find new and better ways of helping VA beneficiaries."

"We're going to provide Veterans with the health care choices they have earned while maintaining and improving VA's direct health care capabilities," Collins wrote.

What People Are Saying

VoteVets Senior Advisor Major General (Ret.) Paul Eaton in a statement on the DOGE lawsuit: "The VA, like any large bureaucracy, stands ready to be reformed and improved. People with no experience using the VA making changes in smoke filled backrooms is not the way to make the VA better."

Vice President JD Vance on X: "'No one voted for Elon Musk.' (They did however vote for Donald Trump who promised repeatedly to have Elon Musk root out wasteful spending in our government.)"