President-elect Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency could impact veterans' health care if plans to cut spending in the expiring bill go ahead.
President Trump announced Tuesday that Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswami will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after he takes office in January. President Trump said DOGE would no longer be a formal government department and would “reduce excessive regulation, eliminate wasteful spending, and reorganize federal agencies.”
Ramaswamy, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination before suspending his campaign in January, has since said that spending on expiring government programs should be stopped. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Ramaswamy noted that $516 billion has been spent on expiring legislation for fiscal year 2024.
“There are more than 1,200 programs that are no longer authorized but are still receiving funding,” he said, calling this “absolutely crazy” and adding, “There are more than 1,200 programs that are no longer authorized by Congress that are still receiving funding.” He called for saving “hundreds of billions” of dollars each year by “defunding the United States.”
Legislative authorities can continue to receive expiring appropriations (acts of Congress that give budgetary authority to government agencies), subject to Congressional reauthorization. Among these expiring appropriations is the Veterans Health Care Eligibility Act, which would amount to $119 billion in government spending in 2024.
This law provides medical benefits to people who served in the Army, Navy, or Air Force on active duty and were not dishonorably discharged. This includes outpatient services such as health exams, immunizations, and nutrition education, as well as inpatient services such as surgery, acute care, and some conditions and injuries that require emergency treatment. This law expired in 1998, but funding has continued.
Newsweek reached out to Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. Trump's team for comment via email.
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Current spending on all expiring laws totals $516 billion in fiscal year 2024, down slightly from 2023, when costs were $519 billion. Other laws with potential spending cuts include the 21st Century Cures Act, which funds biomedical research and costs $48 billion in fiscal year 2024, and the 21st Century Cures Act, which deals with foreign affairs and costs $48 billion in fiscal year 2024. These include the Foreign Relations Powers Act, which costs 100 million dollars.
A reorganization of the Department of Veterans Affairs touted by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 may also become a reality under a second President Trump. The incoming Conservative government's 900-page policy blueprint calls for “stronger political control” over the Veterans Administration, eliminating abortion access for VA health care recipients and overhauling procedures for disability assistance. is claimed.
President Trump has repeatedly denied any involvement in Project 2025. But several former Trump aides played key roles in its development, including Brooks Tucker, who wrote the chapter on the Department of Veterans Affairs. Brooks previously served as acting chief of staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs during the Trump administration.
“President Trump's second term will devastate veterans' health care and benefits,” the nonpartisan Veterans Health Policy Institute said in August in its Project 2025 analysis.
“The Heritage Project aims to help the second Trump administration finish the work of dismantling the VA that was begun during the first administration,” the institute said. “This is an unconscionable way to treat people who have risked their lives for this country.”
