Summary
Project 2025 proposes that the VA reduce expenses by cutting benefits while funneling a larger fraction of its current budget into the pockets of private contractors. It proposes a personnel policy of replacing the leadership and decision makers with political appointees, while outsourcing core functions and silencing dissent from existing staff. It mixes policies from the current VA strategic plan with a dangerous vein of reduced benefits, corporate plundering, and politicization.
Key Quotes
"Target significant cost savings from revising disability rating awards for future claimants while preserving them fully or partially for existing claimants"
(Tucker 650)
"Transfer all career SES out of PA/PAS-designated positions on the first day and ensure political control of the VA"
(Tucker 651)
"Embrace the expansion of Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) … without investing further in obsolete and unaffordable VA health care campuses"
(Tucker 647)
Impacts on Veterans
Project 2025 is a poison pill for veterans, aiming to cut costs by reducing veterans’ benefits and redirecting a larger share of the VA’s budget to private contractors. This shift raises significant concerns about the quality and accessibility of care for veterans, as essential services may be compromised in favor of private profit. The reallocation of funds risks creating a system that prioritizes financial gains over the well-being of those who served, potentially leading to a fragmented and less reliable care network.
Moreover, the project proposes a sweeping overhaul of VA leadership, replacing seasoned decision-makers with political appointees. This strategy threatens to politicize the VA, prioritizing partisan interests over veterans’ needs. The plan includes silencing dissenting voices within the existing staff and outsourcing core functions, which could destabilize the organization. Experienced staff members, who are critical to maintaining a high standard of care, may find themselves marginalized or dismissed, resulting in a loss of institutional knowledge and continuity.
In essence, Project 2025 combines elements of the current VA strategic plan with highly concerning policies of benefit reduction, corporate enrichment, and political manipulation. The intertwined nature of these proposals poses a substantial risk to the integrity and effectiveness of the VA. Veterans, who rely on the agency for support and care, could face diminished services and increased challenges, ultimately undermining the VA’s mission to serve those who have served their country.
Detrimental Impacts
The proposed policies for the Department of Justice stands to affect the following:
REDUCED BENEFITS
The VA assigns disability ratings based on the severity of military service-connected conditions. These ratings determine monthly disability compensation and eligibility for other VA benefits. These disability ratings will be reduced, making veterans eligible for less compensation and other benefits.
The VA already under-compensates for the impact of having multiple conditions. The plan is to continue down this path by disqualifying conditions which can be argued are less directly caused by service. This can include things like care for depression, in an age of record high veteran suicides.
The authors of Project 2025 propose removing access to certain procedures and replacing qualified medical personnel making decisions about what procedures and medicines are covered with political appointees. These appointees do not need to have any relevant professional expertise or background. They are generally incentivised to follow political agenda over quality of care, and that agenda includes cutting costs.
REDUCED QUALITY OF CARE
They propose using third-party contractors to provide medical care and to make decisions about specific benefits claims. Where such contractors are currently in use, they are, on average, less effective than their VA counterparts in both quality and cost-effectiveness of care.
The plan for the VA includes cutting positions for VA doctors who don’t see very high volumes of patients. This can include specialists who provide needed care to fewer people. It can also include doctors who need to spend a lot of time with each patient, forcing those who remain to rush care.
VA facilities are already far older on average than their private counterparts. The proposal includes further neglect of these facilities in favor of funneling that money into private pockets.
Many veterans issues are best addressed by care providers who are aware of and trained to handle veteran-specific problems. VA staff are trained to handle this. Project 2025 proposes moving more care to private clinics which are often not trained to handle these issues. For the increasing number of veterans living in more rural areas and the south in particular, this means CBOCs as the only option for care. Veterans will be at the mercy of the ever-shrinking rural healthcare market to provide even specialty services.
Future Consequences
Different parts of the proposal work together to make it harder or impossible for veterans to access specialty care. This includes everything from the wholesale removal of coverage for conditions, to making it harder to get approval for treatment, to making it tougher to find an actual doctor to administer treatment. As these changes roll out, veterans will find it increasingly difficult to get the care they need and deserve.
VA experts are replaced with a revolving door of political appointees. Experienced staff are replaced with lowest bidders. It would be difficult for any organization to continue to function under these circumstances. When the organization doesn’t know what it’s doing, veterans suffer.
Many veterans move to rural areas for personal reasons or for cost of living. . This increasing number of veterans living in more rural areas will be at the mercy of the ever-shrinking rural healthcare market to provide even specialty services. As rural hospitals continue on the current trend of failing to attract doctors and going out of business, veterans will be left out to dry.
Conclusion
This plan for the future shows a shocking disrespect towards those who protect our freedom. If we don’t act now, the support systems many veterans rely on will be destroyed. We need to work together to keep our veterans safe and healthy. The heart of our country depends on it – millions will suffer if we ignore this issue.
Legislation in Progress or Completed
This is an ongoing list of legislation being pushed through government by proponents of Project 2025:
Quotes from the Mandate
Page numbers refer to the Mandate for Leadership PDF
The VA only covers abortions in very specific scenarios: when the life or health of the pregnant Veteran is endangered, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Despite these conditions, 88 veterans found themselves relying on this potentially life-saving service between Sept. 2022 and Sept 2023. While 72% of Republican voters identify as pro-life, 76% of Republican voters also believe that it should be OK to receive abortions under such extraordinary circumstances. Proposing this change to VA policy shows a disregard for both the lives of female veterans and the widespread opinions of those whom they claim to represent.
The author is lying about gender-affirming care – the VA does not cover gender-affirming surgeries for transgender veterans. However, this policy would likely remove other transgender healthcare the VA covers: hormone therapy, mental health care, preoperative evaluation, post-operative care, and long-term care following surgery.
The impact of this policy is that female, pregnant, and transgender Veterans will not be able to access the care they need, and will be forced to seek care outside the VA. Since Project 2025 also removes transgender and reproductive health access for civilians, they may be forced to seek care in other states or countries.
PA designated positions can be filled with presidential appointees without senate confirmation, while PAS designated positions can be similarly filled but require senate confirmation. Considering that confirming PAS appointees took an average of 115 days during the last presidency, it remains to be seen how they intend on transferring these positions legitimately on day 1.
When combined with other policies, the scope becomes increasingly alarming. On page 112 of the same document, the writers advocate for the reinstatement of schedule F, which would reclassify many federal employees as PA, allowing the president to fire them and replace them with political appointees. This is important for veterans as this could replace veterans, doctors, and scientists responsible for determining what kind of benefits and care veterans can receive through the VA. This was characterized by Trump’s former chair of the Federal Salary Council as “a smokescreen… to replace apolitical expertise with political obeisance.”
Executive Service (SES) employees have historically served as a link between political appointees and the rest of the federal workforce, ensuring effective government operations during administration transitions. Replacing SES members with political appointees is not normally done. Since the career experts in VA operations and policy will be fired, all veterans could encounter service interruptions associated with turnover and political backlash. These new political appointees may or may not have any relevant experience leading to even more problems.
Replacing legally nonpartisan expertise with political loyalists incentivized to reduce costs at the expense of veteran care is not in the best interest of veterans.
The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection investigates allegations of misconduct and poor performance against VA senior leaders. These include many of the same leaders that they propose to replace with political loyalists. Its budget accounts for about 0.02% of all VA spending. The OAWP itself is a beleaguered agency which has struggled to be effective since its creation during the Trump presidency. Advocates have argued for transferring its budget and responsibilities to a more independent agency with a better track record of success like the OSC. It is concerning that project2025 proposes sunsetting the agency with no plan for who should take on its responsibilities.
