Veterans could decide the midterms, and the VA is why

Veterans helped deliver Republican victories in 2024. In 2026, VA reform could decide whether they show up again. Two bills before Congress would fix the system that has failed them: the Veterans’ ACCESS Act and the Veterans’ Bill of Rights Act. Yet Democrats in Washington have a different priority: using the VA as a blueprint for nationalized health care.

They aren’t hiding it. Progressive influencer Ezra Klein called Phillip Longman’s Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care Would Work Better For Everyone one of the most important social policy books of the last decade. Read that subtitle again. The left isn’t just defending the VA — it wants to impose that model on every American.

In 2014, a major scandal rocked the Phoenix VA Health Care System. Officials there ran a deliberate criminal scheme, creating secret unofficial waiting lists to hide how badly the system was failing. As many as 1,700 veterans were kept off the official electronic wait list to inflate reported wait times and protect bonuses. Veterans were forced to wait months — in some cases up to 115 days or longer — for basic primary care. At least 40 veterans died while waiting on these hidden lists.

The deadly failures continue. In 2025 alone, two veterans took their own lives at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio while desperately trying to get mental health care. In April, Navy veteran Mark Miller killed himself there. He had battled depression and anxiety since leaving the service in 2007, and co-authored a book with his father chronicling that fight: Suicide Stalks the Sniper. During his final visit, he told his father the staff were “just like robots handing out pills, poisoning our people.” His father, Dr. Larry Miller, blamed the VA directly: “I lay the blame on the VA system and the psychiatrist who drugged him instead of helping him.”

HIDDEN CAUSE OF VETERANS’ STRUGGLES DRIVES RENEWED URGENCY IN VA MESSAGING

In December, Marine Corps veteran Enrique Ramos Jr. called 911 from the same parking lot, stated his location and his intent, and then took his own life. Both men died at the doorstep of the facility that was supposed to care for them.

This is the system the left wants to expand nationwide. A new poll from Veteran Action and Rasmussen Reports shows that supporting veteran health care isn’t just good policy — it’s good politics heading into the 2026 midterms. Ninety-four percent back the Veterans’ Bill of Rights Act, which requires the VA to plainly inform veterans of their existing rights to health care, benefits, and community care options. Seventy-five percent say they would be more likely to support a congressional candidate who backs the Veterans’ ACCESS Act (H.R. 740) — the bill that guarantees timely VA care or the immediate right to seek outside care at no extra cost when the VA can’t deliver. These numbers cut across party lines — among the voters who know the VA best.

The political math is clear: The poll shows military voters gave President Trump 60% support — but the Republican generic congressional ballot sits at just 57%. That gap could decide control of the House in key districts. Republicans cannot take their loyalty for granted. Candidates who lead on these issues will earn veteran support. Those who don’t risk losing it — and with it, their seats.

Congress has two practical solutions ready to pass. The Veterans’ ACCESS Act guarantees timely care — or immediate community care when the VA falls short. The Veterans’ Bill of Rights Act requires the VA to tell veterans, plainly, what rights they already have. These bills don’t dismantle the VA. They force it to do its job.

The case is straightforward. These reforms are popular with veterans. They will save lives. They could help Republicans hold the House. Republican leadership just needs to make these bills a priority.