Numerous veteran advocacy and service organizations met with Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin and senior White House officials Tuesday to discuss proposals for reform.
The meeting, which lasted for an hour, represented a huge shift from past events; this time, veterans’ groups were invited directly to the White House for dialogue.
Previous meetings with the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs have taken place at the VA. This time, senior White House officials attended who have the close ear of President Donald Trump.
“To date, meetings have been at the VA, and so the unique thing about today’s meeting is that it was with senior White House officials in the West Wing…having the president’s advisors in the room, we haven’t had that before, and I think that was a really positive first step in reinforcing the president’s commitment to veterans’ issues,” Bill Rausch, executive director of Got Your 6, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Major groups like The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS, Got Your 6 and Veterans of Foreign Wars were invited, but what’s interesting is that Concerned Veterans for America also attended. That’s significant, given that the Obama administration kept this right-leaning veterans’ advocacy organization out of past discussions.
During the meeting, Shulkin and other White House officials laid out their priorities for moving forward for reforming the VA, which Trump has repeatedly criticized for failing to give veterans solid care.
These priorities included appeals modernization, choice and reform on community care and improving accountability.
Officials took pains to emphasize that Trump and Shulkin are on the same page as far as reform is concerned.
“It sounds like the White House is working on new solutions, which haven’t been considered before, which is encouraging, and generally speaking, all of the veterans’ groups in the room were pleased with the engagement,” Rausch told TheDCNF.
Rather than delving into the weeds of various policy proposals, the conversation was mostly about top-level priorities, but points like the VA choice program were raised.
“It’s a contentious issue,” Rausch said. “We, being the veterans’ organizations, know Secretary Shulkin, and I think given the confidence we have in him and with his business acumen, his commitment to veterans, it creates an opportunity to have discussions that I think weren’t possible in the past.”
Accountability at the VA was also brought up at the meeting. Shulkin promised in late February to fire problematic workers who drag down the system.
“People who don’t show up to work, who do cocaine or who are watching porn at work are going to be fired, because I’m not going to tolerate it, and they’re going to be out of our system,” Shulkin said.
Part of the meeting was dedicated to easy reforms that could quickly be implemented. Veterans’ groups identified appeals modernization as a key area and argued that quick wins should be separated from more contentious issues like accountability, so as not to delay reform.
A couple of the traditional veterans’ organizations pushed for a meeting with the president, but that sentiment was not carried by some of the new groups.
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