Where the VA is at

Trump & Co. didn't get too far with their heinous effort to open the Veterans Administration to being strip-mined for profit by the greedheads, aka "privatization." But that doesn't mean everything's cool. This is a comprehensive recent overview.

Denis McDonough, the new secretary of Veterans Affairs, is only the second nonveteran to take the helm of the VA since it became a Cabinet-level department in 1988 and only the second person whom Congress did not confirm unanimously for the post.3 He will have his work cut out for him. Not only does Secretary McDonough have to manage a large and complex organization, but he is also facing a series of unprecedented challenges—all compounded by the fact that the VA’s top leadership is in turmoil following the Trump administration, which had five deputy secretaries4 during the former president’s four-year term.

Secretary McDonough’s challenges may be placed into seven categories:

- Addressing the ballooning VA budget
- Expanding veterans’ access to disability benefits
- Reducing the veteran suicide rate
- Slowing the privatization of veterans’ health care
- Prioritizing the women and LGBTQ people who have and still serve in the military
- Rebuilding the department’s infrastructure and staffing
- Helping veterans transition into civil society - Center for American Progress