While President Trump continues to relentlessly attack Senator John McCain months after his death, his decision to outsource the running of the VA to wealthy Mar-a-Lago members is hurting both veterans and active service members. Trump has shown time and again that he does not respect our veterans and can’t be trusted to provide them with the benefits and care they need.

Veterans are calling on Trump to stop his attacks on former Senator McCain.

LA Times: “Even veterans who support the president told me they can’t understand why the president would speak with such contempt about a man who devoted his life to public service, endured years as a prisoner of war after his plane was shot down in Vietnam, and died of brain cancer seven months ago.”

Trump’s VA has failed to successfully serve veterans while being essentially run by three wealthy Mar-a-Lago members with no experience in the field.

ProPublica: “Newly released emails about the three Trump associates who secretly steered the Department of Veterans Affairs show how deeply the trio was involved in some of the agency’s most consequential matters, most notably a multibillion-dollar effort to overhaul electronic health records for millions of veterans. Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, West Palm Beach physician Bruce Moskowitz and lawyer Marc Sherman — part of the president’s circle at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida — reviewed a confidential draft of a $10 billion government contract for the electronic-records project, even though they lack any relevant expertise.”

Under Trump’s shadow VA, the ability of the agency to provide proper service has faltered, making it more difficult for veterans to get the care and benefits they deserve.

ProPublica: “As the Trump administration prepares to launch a controversial program to expand private medical care for veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs is developing a software tool to determine who’s eligible. But the tool is so flawed, according to an independent review obtained by ProPublica, that it threatens to disrupt the health care of about 75,000 veterans every day.”

MeriTalk: “The Department of Veteran Affairs’ (VA’s) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) failure to modify its electronic systems to fully support the Forever GI Bill hampered efforts to implement the law early in the process and continue to the present day, according to a VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report released today.”

While Trump undermines the military medical system, he is planning on raiding military pension funds to build his unnecessary wall.

Kaiser Health News: “The U.S. military is devising major reductions in its medical corps, unnerving the system’s advocates who fear the cuts will hobble the armed forces’ ability to adequately care for health problems of military personnel at home and abroad…The reductions may also limit the military’s medical humanitarian assistance and relief for foreign natural disasters and disease outbreaks.”

Associated Press: “The Pentagon is planning to tap $1 billion in leftover funds from military pay and pension accounts to help President Donald Trump pay for his long-sought border wall, a top Senate Democrat said Thursday. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told The Associated Press, ‘It’s coming out of military pay and pensions. $1 billion. That’s the plan.’”