Ranking Member Takano and HVAC Healthcare Practitioners Slam Trump VA for Move to Discriminate Against Veterans Based on Marital Status and Political Views

WASHINGTON – Today, Ranking Member Mark Takano of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the four Democratic healthcare practitioners currently serving on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs—Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Congressman Herb Conaway, Jr. (NJ-03), Congresswoman Kelly Morrison (MN-03), and Congressman Tim Kennedy (NY-26)— issued the following statement in response to reporting that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has directed its medical centers to remove from their medical staff bylaws language prohibiting VA healthcare providers from denying veterans’ care based on marital status,  political ideology, age, national origin, or disability. VA has similarly directed the removal of these prohibitions from the provisions of medical center bylaws that govern the appointment of medical staff members. 

“Since the start of President Trump’s second term and Doug Collins’s tenure as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, VA has moved further and further away from its key mission— serving the 9 million veterans enrolled in the VA healthcare system.

We are alarmed by the news that VA Central Office has directed changes to medical facilities’ bylaws, to enable doctors and medical staff to deny veterans care based on their marital status and their political views. This is reprehensible. Equally alarming is VA’s decision to direct the amendment of medical staff bylaws in a way that would permit the Department to discriminate against providers on the same basis in the hiring process. Non-discrimination language has been included in VA’s medical staff bylaws for years and rightfully clarifies a practitioners' obligation to care for all veterans, regardless of their beliefs or personal characteristics. The removal of this language is a direct attempt to deny veterans’ care and eliminate diversity among VA providers. It puts VA doctors and their patients in an untenable position and risks compromising veterans’ care. 

Our veterans chose to serve this country. They sacrificed to protect the rights and freedoms of every American. They didn’t fight only for the people who looked like them or who shared their beliefs. They served everyone. Now, we must serve all of them, regardless of their political opinions or relationship status.

VA’s success relies on its ability to remain an apolitical agency focused solely on providing the best possible care for veterans.  This prejudicial change will not go unnoticed, and we will continue to hold VA accountable. For us, serving ‘all veterans’ isn’t just rhetoric. It’s a mission,” said Ranking Member Mark Takano, Rep. Dexter, M.D., Rep. Conaway, M.D., Rep. Morrison, M.D., and Rep. Kennedy.

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