Veterans Groups Sound Alarm on VA Cuts and Disability Rule at Joint Veterans Affairs Hearing

Why it matters:

Eight veteran service organizations used their annual joint Veterans Affairs hearing to deliver a pointed warning: the VA is at a "defining crossroad" as workforce cuts deepen and private-sector care expands. The Joint House and Senate Legislative Presentation of Disabled American Veterans & Multi VSOs, held February 24, 2026, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, came just five days after the VA was forced to halt a controversial disability ratings rule that would have factored medication effectiveness into compensation decisions. The rule was paused — but not rescinded — setting up the hearing as a direct confrontation between VSO legislative priorities and the Trump administration's restructuring agenda.

The big picture:

This was not a routine Disabled American Veterans legislative presentation. The DAV hearing 2026 landed at the intersection of multiple crises that have roiled veterans' policy over the past year.

The Trump administration, through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), cut nearly 28,000 VA employees — about 6 percent of agency staff — between January and December 2025. VA Secretary Doug Collins has outlined plans to reduce the workforce by as many as 80,000, according to OPB. DOGE also canceled VA contracts affecting roughly 550 veteran-owned businesses.

On February 17 — one week before the hearing — the VA published an interim final rule that would have required examiners to consider medication effectiveness when setting disability ratings. Veterans quickly and loudly opposed it. Collins halted enforcement two days later but did not formally rescind the rule.

Two weeks before the joint veterans affairs hearing, Collins appeared before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and dismissed concerns as "scary stories" about VA modernization. Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal then released a report titled "Breaking the Pact", calling the administration's approach an "ongoing assault on veterans."

What they're saying:

The hearing featured testimony from 16 witnesses representing the DAV, Military Officers Association of America, Blue Star Families, Vietnam Veterans of America, National Congress of American Indians, Service Women's Action Network, Gold Star Wives of America, and the Black Veterans Project.

Stars and Stripes reported that Coleman Nee, DAV National Commander, warned of eroding VA health services as the agency pursues what the outlet described as a "$1 trillion plan to grow private-sector health coverage."

Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), the committee's ranking member, created one of the hearing's most striking moments by asking veterans in the audience to raise their hands if they had experienced negative impacts from VA staffing shortages. Many did.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), acting as chairwoman in the absence of Chair Mike Bost (R-IL) — who was delayed by a snowstorm — pressed DAV on whether it would support private healthcare in remote communities where veterans live far from VA facilities.

The DAV's Mid-Winter Conference materials laid out the scale of VSO legislative priorities: a request for $223.37 billion in total VA budget authority for FY2027, filling 40,000 clinical vacancies, and addressing 575,000 pending disability claims.

Political Stakes

The administration is in a defensive posture on veterans' policy. Collins was forced into a rapid reversal on the disability ratings rule and faces escalating scrutiny from both chambers. The Blumenthal report concluded that "veterans are paying the price for this Administration's self-inflicted sabotage."

For Republicans on the committee, the hearing exposed an uncomfortable tension. The party's traditional advantage on veterans' issues is being tested by DOGE-driven cuts and privatization moves that the nonpartisan VSOs openly oppose. Members in competitive districts — including Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), and Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI) — face the prospect of veterans' groups mobilizing against administration policies in their backyards.

Three of the witnesses' employers reported active lobbying: MOAA disclosed $446,040 in fourth quarter 2025 expenditures, DAV reported $161,271, and Vietnam Veterans of America filed a $60,000 amendment.

The other side:

The VA has promoted a counter-narrative. The department's official 2025 accomplishments page claims the benefits backlog is "down 62 percent since Jan. 20, 2025" and that the agency has "eliminated the backlog of Veteran families waiting for VA health care." Collins framed the restructuring as acting on "more than a decade of advice from people and organizations who study this for a living." The VA also terminated most union contracts, redirecting what it called "wasteful union spending back to Veterans."

Mace's questioning about private-sector options for rural veterans reflected the Republican argument that community care can complement — not replace — the VA system.

What's next:

The morning of the hearing, Blumenthal, Takano, and colleagues sent a letter demanding Collins permanently rescind the disability ratings rule. A follow-up Senate oversight hearing with Collins was planned. The Federal Register comment period on the halted rule remains open. VSOs were in Washington lobbying Congress for concurrent receipt legislation, predatory claims company protections, and full PACT Act implementation.

The bottom line:

The annual VSO legislative presentation turned into a referendum on the administration's veterans' policy — and the nonpartisan organizations that showed up were not there to offer praise.

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