White House says GOP debt ceiling plan would cause largest VA benefits cuts in US history

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White House says GOP debt ceiling plan would cause largest VA benefits cuts in US history

Show Caption Hide Caption Debt ceiling negotiations could have far-reaching impacts beyond its resolution While Republicans have passed a debt limit plan, the bill is unlikely to pass in the Senate, creating a clash between parties. Megan Smith, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The White House slammed Republican-backed legislation to raise the debt ceiling for not explicitly protecting veterans' health benefits from massive spending cuts, warning Tuesday of proposed historic slashes to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The bill, which the Republican-controlled House approved last week, would eliminate 81,000 Veterans Affairs jobs, produce 30 million fewer Veterans Affairs outpatient visits and increase the disability backlog of veterans by 134,000, the White House said in a memo.

“These draconian cuts to America’s veterans have no precedent in America’s history,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. "And prioritizing tax welfare for wealthy special interests over honoring our commitments to those who have put their lives on the line for our country is as backwards as politics gets.”

The legislation, pushed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, does not target veterans’ services by name but would keep government spending in fiscal year 2024 at the same level as 2022.

McCarthy's office rejected the White House's claims. Chad Gilmartin, McCarthy's deputy spokesman, said House Republicans "will not cut veterans benefits" and will "responsibly prioritize" spending in the upcoming appropriations process.

"Democrats have been playing games with veterans for years in order to make room for their pet projects elsewhere in the budget," Gilmartin said. "We should prioritize meeting our veterans’ needs instead of trying to leverage their benefits for unrelated spending."

The Republicans' bill includes $4.5 trillion in cuts to government programs – a 22% reduction overall in domestic spending, according to the White House – as part of raising the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion to avert a government default.

Shalanda Young, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, issued an analysis of the bill saying that because Republicans are unwilling to cut defense spending “everything else in annual appropriations” would be subjected to cuts including cancer research, education and veterans' health care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is an agency of the federal government that provides benefits and health care services to approximately 9 million veterans. The department's projection came from applying the cuts “across the board” to federal agencies.

“I hear House Republicans out on TV saying they would never vote to cut veterans’ benefits,” President Joe Biden said in a tweet Tuesday with an attached flow chart. “In case there’s any confusion, I made a little chart that could help them out.”

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., who chairs the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, called Democrats' warnings of veterans cuts "dangerous rhetoric."

"Simply put, they are playing politics with our veterans," Bost said during last week's debate on the bill. "Veterans are not political pawns to advance a political agenda."

But 24 veterans' groups signed a letter to Congress expressing “grave concerns” about potential veterans' benefit cuts before the House voted 217-215 last Wednesday to approve the debt ceiling bill.

The organizations − which include the Air Force Sergeants Association, VoteVets and Easterseals − asked lawmakers to explicitly exempt Veterans Affairs from future cuts. That change, however, wasn’t made.

“Without specific language to explicitly protect VA from the impact of the proposed budget reductions, it would leave many veteran resources open to cuts, potentially undoing years of progress VA has made for those that have earned it,” the groups wrote.

Biden has promised to veto McCarthy's debt ceiling bill, which is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, warning that cuts would hurt “hardworking Americans” who depend on the targeted programs and benefits.

Biden wants the debt ceiling to be raised by Congress without conditions as it has under past presidencies, but he’s been unable to sway McCarthy and Republicans who are demanding spending cuts.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Monday that the U.S. could reach its borrowing limit by June 1 unless the debt ceiling is raised, putting the nation at risk of going into default. McCarthy agreed to meet with Biden and other congressional leaders on May 9 at the White House.

“Unless moderates are willing to stand up to the extreme MAGA groups that have taken over the conference,” Bates said, “the House GOP is going to define themselves as so indentured to multinational corporations and billionaires that they’re willing to make the biggest cuts to veterans benefits in American history.”

hifumiyo1 on May 2nd, 2023 at 16:39 UTC »

Pro-war but not pro Vet. That tracks for the modern GOP

2_Spicy_2_Impeach on May 2nd, 2023 at 16:00 UTC »

This is coming from the same group that bumped fists on the Senate floor after voting down vet funding for burn pits. They don’t give a fuck about veterans.

https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2022-07-30/ted-cruz-fist-bump-upsets-backers-burn-pits-bill-veterans-sickened-6823469.html

XSpacewhale on May 2nd, 2023 at 15:43 UTC »

McCarthy just has to say “woke” three times and Republican veterans will be absolutely furious that Obama did this to them.