VA benefits won’t be halted under White House funding freeze order

Veterans benefits and support services will not be disrupted by the White House’s freeze of federal financial programs after administration officials quickly verified that department operations do not run afoul of new rules banning money for diversity and inclusion programming.

The announcement Tuesday night by VA leaders capped a day of confusion and uncertainty surrounding dozens of department benefits, including education support, suicide prevention efforts and homeless assistance grants.

In a short statement, acting VA Secretary Todd Hunter confirmed that President Donald Trump’s government-wide halt on financial assistance payouts — a surprise announcement late Monday night — “will have no impact on VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries.”

The order from Office of Management and Budget acting director Matthew Vaeth called for a pause on “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance” in an effort to identify whether that spending was connected to “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal.”

Although the memo included an exception for “assistance provided directly to individuals” — which appeared to exclude veterans disability payments — White House officials did not clarify whether funds paid to outside groups that benefit veterans would be halted.

That list includes veterans education benefits paid to schools, funding for state nursing home support, suicide prevention grants to advocacy organizations, homeless prevention grants to community groups, cemetery grants programs, veterans job training programs and a host of other support services.

VA officials confirmed that 44 separate financial assistance programs were identified as potentially problematic by OMB officials, but all were verified as proper before the 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline to halt payouts.

By early Tuesday evening, that deadline was largely moot. A federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze order until at least Feb. 3.

But even if the order is reinstated after that, VA programs will be exempt. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, praised the news.

“Veterans and their families, as well as the organizations that serve them, will continue to have access to the benefits, services and resources provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs,” he said in a statement. “I appreciate the VA quickly providing answers to my questions and continuing the important programs that serve our veterans and their families.”

Democratic lawmakers called Trump’s financial freeze illegal and unconscionable, given the potential impact on thousands of federal services across the nation and across the globe.

“In a brazen and illegal move, the Trump administration is working to freeze huge chunks of federal funding passed into law, by Republicans and Democrats alike,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This chaos is already hurting people, causing confusion, and causing devastating delays.”

Unrelated to the funding freeze, White House officials last week moved to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs throughout federal agencies. That meant placing 60 VA staffers solely focused on those activities on administrative leave and cancelling about $6 million in contracts related to the programs.

VA officials declined to provide specifics on those contracts or what may be considered a “diversity, equity and inclusion” program.