Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie warned that veteran care at his agency “would disappear” if American politics converted to socialism.
“If socialism became the coin of the realm that (care for veterans) would be gone,” Wilkie said, stepping directly into the political arena on Friday in an interview with far-right media outlet Breitbart at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. “That place that was promised for warriors would disappear … that care would disappear.”
VA is the largest healthcare provider in the United States, serving more than 9 million veterans annually with a federal government budget of more than $220 billion.
The conference carried the theme “America vs. Socialism” and Wilkie followed President Donald Trump’s lead.
Trump announced at the event that his administration was “defeating the radical socialist Democrats.”
“If America were suddenly to descend into a socialist state, that promise (of veteran care) is wiped out,” Wilkie said in the interview. “There’s no longer any care for veterans.”
Wilkie and Trump’s comments come in the wake of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., took the lead in the Democratic primary race, though Wilkie did not mention Sanders specifically. Sanders describes his personal politics as “democratic socialist.”
The Trump administration’s 2021 budget proposal included a more than 10-percent budget increase for VA, putting it at more than $243 billion.
That’s more than double what VA operated with 10 years ago. VA’s budget has consistently increased since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
If the president’s plan were enacted by Congress, VA would become the second-largest federal agency when measured by discretionary spending, with the Defense Department at the top. The Department of Health and Human Services was No. 2, but under Trump's plan would be cut by 9 percent.
VA is the only federal agency with a double-digit percent funding increase under the president’s plan. Even the Pentagon, which has nearly six times the budget of VA, is expected to only see a half-percent increase. All other non-defense agencies and programs are set to see about a 5 percent cut under Trump’s proposal.
During the interview, Wilkie also touted accomplishments by the Trump administration, including launching the MISSION Act to replace the expiring Choice Act, which expands veterans’ opportunities to seek care outside VA in a network of private providers, paid for by the government.
“If you don’t live near a VA or we don’t have what you need, you have the power to go to the private sector and get what you need,” he said.
Sanders voted against the MISSION Act, citing concerns about potential privatization of certain VA responsibilities in favor of private companies.
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