Thanks for With the Republican Party's growing influence on the Supreme Court, thousands of VA rules and regulations are now vulnerable to legal challenges, a scenario that the new Trump administration could ignite.
As a young political staffer, one of the first hard lessons I learned was that there are no coincidences in politics. During Donald Trump’s presidency, his administration’s efforts to expand private health care for veterans through the VA Mission Act sparked a major controversy.
Although Trump framed the law as fulfilling his campaign promise to give veterans more “choice” in health care, many major veterans’ service organizations saw it as a step toward privatizing the Veterans Administration. They feared that expanding private care, estimated to cost billions of dollars, would drain resources from VA facilities and degrade the quality of care that veterans rely on.
The clash between Republicans and veterans' services organizations has centered on ensuring that the law is implemented in line with Congress' intent, with the goal of protecting the integrity of the veterans' services system from being overwhelmed by the private sector.
Seven years after the Veterans Mission Act was passed, veterans have been mixed on the issue, with the Office of the Inspector General for Veterans Affairs being critical. Between October 2023 and April 2024, the number of new patients waiting more than 20 days for primary care dropped by 19 percent, reflecting the Veterans Administration’s efforts to improve access to timely health care services. Additionally, the number of new patients waiting more than 20 days for mental health care dropped by 9 percent. While these are improvements, they fall far short of what the Veterans Mission Act promised.
Many veterans have expressed frustration with the MISSION Act, citing the lack of quality providers in their communities and strict rules imposed by the VA—such as canceling more than one appointment, which can result in claims being denied outright. Some providers may be miles away from where veterans live, or even in other states.
In April, the Inspector General of Veterans Affairs found significant deficiencies in the Veterans Health Administration’s process for identifying health care providers who had been turned away for policy violations related to safe and appropriate care. This failure resulted in the inclusion of ineligible providers and the exclusion of eligible providers from the VA Community Care Program, prompting the Inspector General to recommend a review of the criteria and processes used for such exclusions.
Now, with the Trump-dominated Supreme Court overturning its previous ruling,Chevron “The Veterans Administration faces a second major blow to its status as America’s only public health care system. This decision fundamentally changes the way federal agencies operate. Chevron The Veterans’ Independence Doctrine, established in 1984, allows agencies to interpret ambiguous laws within their jurisdiction without ongoing judicial intervention. Repealing this doctrine goes beyond a legal flaw—it has immediate and dire consequences, especially for the millions of veterans who rely on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for their benefits and health care.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, like many other federal agencies, is empowered by Chevron Interpreting complex and often ambiguous laws passed by Congress and translating them into actionable policies and health care principles. Chevron This allowed the agency to adapt to new challenges and ensure veterans got the support they needed. ChevronEvery interpretation VA offers is now open to judicial review, setting the stage for a series of legal challenges that could overwhelm the system and delay or deny services to veterans. This legal ambiguity threatens VA’s ability to fulfill its mission of providing specialized health care to veterans.
This shift in the legal landscape also plays into the hands of private health care interests, which have long sought to privatize the Veterans Administration and its $325 billion budget and $222 million in mandatory spending for fiscal year 2025. The Veterans Administration was specifically designed to serve those who have served our country, addressing their unique needs—from combat-related injuries to mental health issues. A VA health care system that is prevented from setting its own rules and regulations does not benefit veterans and undermines America’s promise to care for those who have “borne the battle.”
With the backing of a second Trump administration, private health care companies will undoubtedly see an opportunity. They no longer need to fight organizations like the American Legion or Veterans Overseas to take control of the VA—they just need to convince the courts that the VA doesn’t have the legal authority to care for veterans. With thousands of rules and regulations that the VA interprets on behalf of Congress open to challenge, the VA could go out of business. The legal chaos that would follow would end the VA as we know it.
The third and final blow to the VA will come if, as is the case now, Chevron These rulings suggest that the department is losing its legal authority to set entirely new rules. Given the varying timelines for passing veterans-specific legislation—ranging from 50 years for something as sweeping as the PACT Act to help veterans exposed to toxic chemicals to months for cost-of-living adjustments—Congress simply won’t be able to craft bills and regulations fast enough to keep up with the VA’s daily demands.
The future of the Department of Veterans Affairs hangs in the balance. A second Trump term, coupled with the dismantling of the Department of Defense, would have dire consequences. Chevron Disrespect would cripple the VA's ability to serve those who have sacrificed for our nation.
The agency’s ability to interpret and enforce laws is critical to meeting the unique and complex needs of veterans. Without this authority, the agency could become embroiled in endless legal battles, leaving veterans caught in the crossfire of privatization efforts and regulatory paralysis.
This is not just a legal issue—it is a profound moral challenge. The VA represents a promise from the nation to our veterans, and we must keep that promise. The question we face now is whether that promise will hold, or whether it will be sacrificed in the name of economic deregulation and privatization, leaving millions of veterans without the care and support they deserve.
Michael Embrich is a veteran, a former member of the VA Advisory Committee on Veterans Readjustment, and a former Congressional staffer.
