Trump doesn't know what it means to be a veteran. His budget bill punishes us. | Opinion
President Donald Trump doesn't know what it's like to be a veteran. And, based on his policies, he doesn't care to learn from those of us who do.
- President Trump's proposed budget cuts could lead to longer wait times for veterans seeking medical and mental health care.
- Change in VA bylaws removed words like 'national origin, politics, marital status' from language prohibiting discrimination.
- Kentucky veterans already face long wait times for benefits and care, and these policies could exacerbate the issue.
Imagine going to war to protect your country and coming home to find your country no longer protects you.
Under President Donald Trump, this could be the new reality for the 15 million veterans who depend on VA health care. His "One Big Beautiful Bill" budget includes changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs, meaning Kentucky veterans like me might have to wait longer for the medical care, including mental health care, that was promised to us in exchange for service to our country.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: "Veterans could be particularly harmed by Medicaid and (food stamps) cuts given the complexity of their health care needs and their higher prevalence of food insecurity compared to non-veterans."
His disrespect toward those who have served doesn’t stop there. According to FactCheck: "The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs changed the wording in its bylaws to comply with recent executive orders. In making the changes, words including 'national origin, politics, marital status' were removed from language prohibiting discrimination. But existing federal law already prohibits discrimination on those grounds, the VA says."
'Extremely disturbing and unethical' is right on the money
One doctor called the change “extremely disturbing and unethical.” While that’s how you could describe a lot of Trump’s decisions these days, this one targets our troops with a dangerous type of loyalty test – as if being willing to die for your country wasn’t test enough.
Kentucky vets already wait months to settle VA claims and get the benefits and care they’ve earned. Now, between Trump’s mass VA layoffs, proposed budget cuts and this new change in bylaws, the gap between what Kentucky veterans get and what they deserve will get even wider.
People willing to fight for this country should not have to wait months for benefits and be forced to drive hours just to see a doctor. And they shouldn’t have to worry about getting turned away for wearing the wrong hat.
This is an insult to veterans
It is an insult to subject these men and women to political intimidation tactics after they’ve put their lives on the line to defend democracy, religious freedom, freedom of speech – the most valuable principles of our nation. And I’ll tell you, discrimination ain’t one of them.
Taking care of veterans should be a place where Democrats and Republicans find common ground, but right now the GOP is applauding a man who uses troops as birthday party decorations while cutting the care they need to survive.
Donald Trump doesn’t know what it’s like to be a veteran. And, based on his policies, he doesn’t care to learn from those of us who do. We cannot let our troops come home to a country where their lawful political beliefs could get them punished. If someone is willing to defend American principles with their life, we’d better make damn sure those principles apply to them, too.
Bud Andrews is a retired Army master sergeant who lives in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. This column originally published in the Louisville Courier-Journal.