Musk, Ramaswamy Proposal to Slash Spending May Include VA Medical Services

The incoming Trump administration’s plan to cut federal funding could cut health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal this week, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whom President-elect Donald Trump chose to lead the so-called “Department of Government Operations,” confirmed that they plan targeting illegal spending. , a group that includes VA medical services.

“DOGE will help eliminate federal spending by targeting the $500 billion-plus in annual federal spending that is not authorized by Congress or is being spent in a way that Congress did not intend,” they said. wrote, specifically citing nonprofit grants and PBS.

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The couple did not call the VA directly. But the type of spending they are dealing with includes about $120 billion for VA medical services, according to a report issued earlier this year from the Congressional Budget Office.

Historically, in order for the federal government to operate, Congress passes two different types of legislation: an authorization bill to authorize funding and a funding bill to provide funding.

For example, for the Pentagon, Congress passes the National Defense Authorization Act and the Pentagon budget bill every year.

But for many federal agencies, Congress hasn’t bothered with appropriations bills for years, instead, it’s improving its work by assuming that appropriations bills are authorizations.

A 2023 report from the Congressional Research Service points out the difference between appropriations bills and appropriations “is based on chamber rules, rather than a constitutional or general legislative requirement.”

For VA medical services, the last authorization bill was the Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996, according to a Congressional Budget Office report.

The op-ed from Musk and Ramaswamy about their plans for DOGE, which is the same name as the cryptocurrency Musk previously touted, confirmed that they will pursue the idea Ramaswamy before floating on social media last week.

“We could save hundreds of billions every year by rolling back federal programs that Congress no longer authorizes,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We will challenge any politician who disagrees and defends the other side.”

When asked about DOGE’s proposal at Wednesday’s hearing, VA Under Secretary of Health Shereef Elnahal said he would be “very concerned” about any cuts to the agency and that the agency’s lawyers believe it has and legal authority to act.

The need for Veterans’ care “is increasing dramatically,” said Elnahal, a Biden administration appointee. “Despite this increase in demand, we’ve seen wait times go down, rather than go up, for primary care and mental health. We’ve seen historic improvements in quality, safety and patient satisfaction and veterans’ trust. We want to make sure we maintain those outcomes while providing the highest quality care to physicians.”

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have already pledged to protect the VA.

“If the majority of Republicans follow Ramaswamy’s wishes, it will mean that veterans will no longer be eligible for inpatient services, such as surgeries, intensive care and injuries that may require urgent care, and outpatient services, such as health options, immunizations and nutrition and education,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., VA ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. subcommittee, said in the hearing before asking Elnahal about DOGE.

Later in the hearing, subcommittee chairman John Carter, R-Texas, asserted that he “will not stand for anyone who tries to eliminate anything related to our Veterans Administration.”

Proposing to limit unauthorized allocations is “an idle person’s opinion,” he added.

“We are all here to support our country’s veterans, and no one on this committee is trying to do anything to destroy our veterans or veteran care. And we will be soldiers on the battlefield on your behalf with that way,” Carter said.

But in their view, Musk and Ramaswamy also say they plan to defect from the Congress. Although a 1974 law called the Impoundment Control Act generally requires the president to spend money appropriated by Congress, the two noted Trump is opposed to the law. Trump’s disregard for that law was part of his first charge of denying aid approved by Congress to Ukraine.

“Mr. Trump has previously argued that this law is unconstitutional,” they wrote, “and we believe the Supreme Court may side with him on this question.”

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