Behind Trump’s big money fight to change the VA: “I think it’s an existential threat”
Investigators are trying to find a connection between the shocking violence in New Orleans and Las Vegas. Fortunately, they discovered no evidence of a larger terrorist plot involving Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who allegedly murdered 14 people on Bourbon Street with his pickup truck, with Matthew Livelsberger, who shot himself in the head and then blew himself up behind the wheel of a pickup truck. Tesla Cybertruck parked in the driveway of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. But these two men have one important thing in common: years of service in combat zones with the U.S. Army. Livelsberger made it clear how his time in uniform contributed to his mental state, leaving a note that read: “I need to clear my mind of my lost brothers and ease the burden of the lives I have taken.”
Whether Jabbar’s military experience shaped his motivations remains unclear. Still, their deaths are a reminder of the epidemic of mental health problems plaguing America’s veterans: About 6,000 veterans commit suicide each year, according to statistics. Department of Veterans Affairs. “We actually just lost one of our best veteran leaders in December,” said Allison Jaslow, Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “I don’t know a veterinarian who doesn’t know someone, another veterinarian who died by suicide.”
As if that photo wasn’t confusing enough, here’s the second photo Donald Trump appears poised to bring big changes to the VA, which provides health care services to the 9 million veterinarians. And critics say the changes appear to be driven by big right-wing money from the likes of the Koch brothers, billionaire-backed donor network for decades has promoted libertarian causes through think tanks, legal groups, and advocacy organizations.
“What the Koch brothers are trying to prove is that privatization works and government is bad,” said Paul Rieckhoff, an Army veteran who fought in Iraq before becoming a veterans advocate and podcaster. “And the VA is their test case.” senator Tammy Duckworth—who lost both legs in 2004 when the Army Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting was shot down in Iraq—is even more outspoken. “It’s driven by money,” the Illinois Democrat said. “The last time Trump was president, he had This VA shadow at Mar-a-Lago. This bunch of people, who have never served themselves, are just trying to make money from the veterans.”
Trump’s previous handling of the VA was chaotic. He initially promoted Dr. David Shulkin, an Obama administration official who once ran major hospital systems leads the agency. However, more than a year later, Trump suddenly tweeted that he would replace Shulkin with White House physician Dr. John C. Ronny Jackson. That move collapsed under the weight of false accusations against Jackson. (At the time, Jackson called these allegations “baseless and anonymous attacks on my character and integrity.”) Trump’s next choice, Robert Wilkie, was installed successfully but then accused attempted to help discredit a victim who came forward with allegations of sexual assault in a VA medical center. (Wilkie has called the accusations against him “false.”)
Meanwhile, plans to privatize more VA services are being debated. Shulkin told me he was startled, during a 2018 White House meeting on the topic, when Trump request to get Pete Hegseth by phone to ask for advice. At the time, Hegseth was a Fox News contributor and former executive director of Concerned Veterans for America — an advocacy group funded by the Koch brothers. CVA champion help veterinarians increase access to private physicians; Either way, the bills will be paid with taxes.
Shulkin said that Hegseth—whom Trump has now nominated as Secretary of Defense—favors more privatization, and when Shulkin countered by pointing out his assessment that it could cost the government at least $50 billion per year, Trump agreed to a less expansive version of the privatization policy. Veterans Choice Program. “Part of what every healthcare operator must balance is doing the right thing with limited resources,” Shulkin said. “But if you’re a political thinker, don’t worry about that. You just say, ‘This is the way the world should be and figuring out how to pay for it will be someone else’s problem.’”
