🧵 No surviving military spouse should have to choose between finding love again & keeping the benefits their family earned. But VA just rescinded its support for the Love Lives On Act because "the admin changed."

STARTING AT 2:00 PM ET- the Subcommittees on Technology Modernization and Economic Opportunity will conduct a joint Oversight Hearing entitled, "Digital G.I. Bill Undelivered: Contracting Challenges and the Need for Acquisition Reform”.

During today's DAMA hearing, @repmcgarvey.bsky.social highlighted @repsuhas.bsky.social's Susan E. Lukas 9/11 Servicemember Fairness Act. Many veterans who were at the Pentagon on 9/11 went right back to work the next day and were exposed to hazards like silica dust, asbestos, pesticides, and lead.

🧵Veterans like Lindsay Church are sharing how VA's recent abortion rule change will deny care to veterans & their families when they need it most. Lindsay & their wife ended a wanted pregnancy after learning their baby had a fatal abnormality, a devastating but compassionate decision.

Licensed marriage and family therapists provide critical support to address the unique challenges military veterans and their families face. @juliabrownley.house.gov's bill, HR 658, would help expand veterans’ access to mental healthcare.

STARTING AT 10:15 AM ET- the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs will conduct a Legislative Hearing on 9 bills. Listen to Subcommittee Ranking Member @repmcgarvey.bsky.social deliver his opening remarks: youtube.com/live/bHKyIDv...

HR 980 begins to address VR&E staffing shortages and allows the future expansion of the Veteran Success on Campus program by expanding who can staff the VSOC program. Student veterans deserve timely access to their earned benefits—and this brings us closer to making that happen.

Veterans should be able to trust that their personal data will be kept safe when they go to VA to receive health care or access their benefits. My Veteran DATA Act would set up guardrails to prevent third-party vendors that work with VA from selling or misusing vets information.

Suicide prevention must remain the top priority at VA. So why can't Trump's VA make sure CCN providers are trained on veteran suicide prevention? If VA isn't willing to enforce its own requirements, how can veterans trust community care providers to know how to provide quality care?

🧵1/5: The VA and veteran communities are in mourning due to the tragic murder of VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti. Yet, where is VA Secretary Doug Collins? Minneapolis VA employees were told they could not hold a ceremony at the VA hospital to honor and remember their beloved colleague.

🧵1/2: The two federal officers who shot & killed VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti have been placed on admin leave. That’s procedure—not accountability.

Time to stop the scammers. @repchrispappas.bsky.social's GUARD Act targets the right people: the predatory claim sharks stealing veterans' benefits. Veterans can't afford to wait any longer for these protections.

Today @juliabrownley.house.gov and RM @repmarktakano.bsky.social introduced a resolution to overturn VA's dangerous abortion ban. Veterans deserve care, not barriers stopping them from receiving care. Doctors should never be silenced when patients need medical guidance. 🔗: tinyurl.com/53cvk84z

1yr ago today, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order banning trans Americans from serving in the military. As Chair @repmarktakano.bsky.social promises: we won't stop fighting until this ban is undone & we pass long-lasting protections for trans servicemembers into law. youtube.com/shorts/f2bcE...

Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at Minneapolis VA hospital, was fatally shot by ICE agents in broad daylight on Saturday in Minnesota. He dedicated his life to caring for the veterans who fought to defend the very rights we hold dear. RM @repmarktakano.bsky.social full statement: tinyurl.com/yfwve9cw

VA wants $700 billion for their new Community Care Next Generation contracts—this is the same amount Trump just offered Denmark for Greenland. RM @repmarktakano.bsky.social l fears this path will lead to privatization rather than better care for veterans. We must prioritize quality veteran care.

Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse for the VA. He was trying to look out for his community. He was murdered by his own government without a second thought. My heart is with his family, his AFGE brothers and sisters, and his community right now.

🧵 Alex Pretti was a VA ICU nurse. Colleagues remember him as kind, warm, and caring. He was a beloved son, brother, friend, and neighbor.   ICE agents murdered him in cold blood. In broad daylight. And then they had the gall—the sheer, evil audacity—to call *him* a domestic terrorist. (1/3)

"My heart is with Alex Jeffrey Pretti’s family. No words can bring back your son, but his name and the justice he was fighting for will never be forgotten." - @repmarktakano.bsky.social

Call us confused. Male breast cancer is more common and more lethal among veterans. But last September, VA made it harder for male veterans to access care because of their ridiculous culture war, in spite of their own medical evidence. Thank you, Gene, for your service and for spreading awareness.

🧵1/2: This year, veterans have endured attack after attack on their care and cut after cut to their benefits. Under Trump's failed leadership, they now fear losing what they earned, all while Republicans refuse to pay for the full cost of war.

🧵1/2: In 2024, veterans, servicemembers, & their families lost nearly $600M to fraud. 1 year later, Trump has dismantled the CFPB, one of the lead agencies helping to protect veterans from scams.

From a roundtable discussion on preventing scams against servicemembers, veterans, and their families – including my bill to combat predatory claim sharks – to a legislative hearing as Ranking Member of the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, it was a busy day fighting for New Hampshire veterans.

According to VA’s own data, the number of individual veterans using community care increased by only 34% between FY21 and FY24. However, during that same period, expenditures for community care grew 67%. This far outpaces the growth of costs for civilians receiving care in the private sector.

STARTING SOON: At 10:15 AM, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs will conduct an Oversight Hearing entitled, “Community Care Network Next Generation: One Trillion Dollars of Oversight”. To listen to RM @repmarktakano.bsky.social deliver his opening remarks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYSc...

Trump dismantled the CFPB—one of the key agencies protecting veterans from scams. In an era where tech scams are everywhere, we should be doing MORE to protect those who served our country, not less. Veterans' benefits belong in veterans' pockets- not in the pockets of scammers.

STARTING SOON: At 2:30 PM EST, the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity will conduct a legislative hearing on 12 bills. To listen to Ranking Member @repchrispappas.bsky.social. deliver his opening remarks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N5e...

Congress should focus on cutting red tape—not on making veterans' claims more confusing. Veterans shouldn't need a law degree to get the benefits they've earned.

With VA's current focus on processing speed rather than on approving benefits for veterans. We have seen higher error and denial rates; it's critical that BVA is staffed with experienced judges who can navigate the complex disability compensation system and get decisions right for our veterans.

Veterans deserve the best care possible—including pain management that doesn't lead to addiction. This bill takes a commonsense approach: making non-opioid treatments more accessible for those who served. We must protect veterans' health while fighting the opioid epidemic.

At a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing, VA has started charging veterans more for preventative services that were once free to them. This is unjust and unacceptable. Our veterans earned these benefits—VA must do better by those who served.

VA's disability rating schedule is long overdue for updates. But before rushing into changes, we need answers: Where's the research on system effectiveness? What data gaps exist? How do we ensure veterans' voices are central to the process, and that updates help, not hurt, them?

The GOP's bills on the agenda at yesterday's hearing had one thing in common. All would create competing & duplicative programs, allowing non-VA providers to get paid to deliver care with fewer requirements, care coordination, & communication with VA, all while sidestepping oversight & transparency.

🚨STARTING AT 2:15 PM ET- the Subcommittee on DAMA will conduct an Oversight Hearing entitled, “Reevaluating the Rating Schedule: Examining VA’s Efforts to Modernize Disability Benefits”. Listen to Subcommittee RM @repmcgarvey.bsky.social deliver his opening remarks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGHh...

🚨Starting at 2:15 PM, the Subcommittee on Health will hold a Legislative Hearing on 12 bills. 📺To watch @juliabrownley.house.gov deliver her opening remarks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=inFk...

Last week at a ceremony hosted by @hrc.org & SPARTA Pride, Equality Caucus Chair & @democrats-veterans.house.gov Ranking Member @repmarktakano.bsky.social honored the retirement of several transgender servicemembers who have been forced out of the armed services under Trump. youtu.be/azo14OdlQxI

🚨VA reinstated a near-total ban on abortions and abortion counseling, even in cases of rape, incest, or threats to their health. Veterans fought to protect our freedoms, only to be stripped of theirs. This decision puts politics over medical expertise. Veterans have earned and deserve better.

House Democrats’ bill to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits has PASSED!  Health care costs have skyrocketed for millions of families and this legislation will help bring costs down.  This is a win for the American people.

Veterans are struggling with rising costs. Families are making impossible healthcare choices. But in their first week back, House Republicans are prioritizing a vote on showerheads? The message is clear: Republicans are not serious about helping lower costs for those who served our country.

🧵1/2:🚨Buried in end-of-year chaos & Epstein files release, the Trump Admin quietly banned abortion care & counseling for veterans—even in cases of rape, incest, or health-threatening complications.

“This data, when stitched together, can be a threat to national security, can be a threat to people's safety. It can be a threat to the folks who have already given up so much to our country to protect us.” - Alex Rich with @commondefense.bsky.social

In the dead of night, Trump quietly imposed a national abortion ban for veterans — cutting off the last lifeline for Texans facing life-or-death emergencies. This is a betrayal of those who served. I’ll keep fighting to protect abortion access for all Americans.

🧵1/3: Healthcare jobs have been eliminated. VA didn't tell Congress. VA didn't get the insight of VSOs. VA didn't care. Let's be clear: VA exists for ONE reason—to serve the veterans who served us.

"Now, VA should be protecting veterans whenever they seek services, not giving billionaires free rein to commercialize veteran data to shore up their bottom line. Full stop." - @repmarktakano.bsky.social I call upon the VA Secretary to do his duty and protect veterans, not billionaires.

VA plans to cut tens of thousands of healthcare positions. When questioned, officials provided no data showing this won't harm or impact veteran care. Can't fill jobs? Eliminate them. The result: overworked staff, worse care for veterans. This isn't the government efficiency they promised.

30+ letters sent. 10 roundtables and 40+ hearings held. @housedemocrats.bsky.social will NOT allow the Trump administration to harm veterans' benefits.

VA let politics override medical expertise, deciding government knows best when it comes to veterans’ reproductive healthcare—even in life or death situations. Veterans deserve honest healthcare conversations with their doctors, not ideological restrictions.

Success at VA is reliant on long-term planning, adequate staffing, and resource stability. Instead, we are seeing staff leave VA in droves. The result? The agency is unable to deliver for our nation's veterans. Hear directly from a former VA employee at our last roundtable on veterans' data privacy⬇️

Wishing our veterans and their families a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Thank you for your service and the sacrifices you made together for this country. - @repmarktakano.bsky.social

Trump's VA just banned abortion care for veterans—even in cases of rape, incest, or threats to health. This is cruel, and dangerous.