Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins is pressing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to work with Republicans to reopen the federal government so all VA services can resume.
“I respectfully ask that you act swiftly to vote in favor of the clean continuing resolution and end the shutdown,” Collins wrote to Schumer (D-NY) in an Oct. 22 letter first reported on by the Washington Examiner and obtained by Connecting Vets. “Reopening the Government would reaffirm that our Nation’s duty to Veterans transcends party divisions and political stalemates.”
The shutdown began when funding for the federal government lapsed on Oct. 1, after the Republican-led House and Senate failed to garner enough support from Democrats for a funding bill. At the time, Democrats refused to support a Republican effort to keep the government open unless they won a series of concessions centered on healthcare funding. (Congressional Democrats are demanding funding for health care subsidies that will expire for millions of people under the Affordable Care Act.)
In the interim, Senate Democrats have opposed stopgap funding measures, which require 60 votes to break the filibuster. (Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate.) Each party blames the other for not taking action to reopen the government.
“The uncertainty this shutdown creates threatens to erode the trust of America’s more than 17 million Veterans who may question the Government’s commitment to those who have served,” Collins wrote.
Despite the shutdown, all VA medical centers, outpatient clinics, and vet centers remain open, and veterans’ benefits will continue to be issued, according to the VA Contingency Planning webpage. In addition, VA’s suicide prevention programs, homelessness services, and caregiver support programs are unaffected by the shutdown.
However, VA career counseling program have ceased as a result of the shutdown.
Collins claimed the disruptive effects of the shutdown are becoming more evident as it enters its third week.
“While most of the VA’s health care and benefits operations remain protected by advanced appropriations, more than 35,000 VA employees are either furloughed or being forced to work without pay and vital support functions, such as transition assistance, education call centers, and outreach to Veterans, have been suspended,” he wrote.
Collins noted that Veterans Service Organizations across the country and the political spectrum are united in opposition to the shutdown. Among them are the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, American Veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Vietnam Veterans of America and Mission Roll Call.
Collins also wrote that Mario Marques of the American Legion said, “You swore an oath to serve Americans - on the same flag our troops defend with their lives. That oath does not expire when politics get hard.”
President Donald Trump turned down a request from Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for a meeting on their healthcare demands. Trump said he would meet with them whenever the federal government reopens.
“I ask that you uphold your oath to the Constitution and commitment to ensure every Veteran receives the support they earned,” Collins said.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.