{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-colleagues-demand-answers-on-potential-political-personal-discrimination-at-va", "King, Colleagues Demand Answers on Potential Political, Personal Discrimination at VA", "2025-06-26", "2025", "2025-06", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C.\u2013 U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) and several of his colleagues are calling on the administration to explain secret hospital guideline changes. In a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins, the Senators request an explanation of why certain VA Medical Center bylaws were changed in a way that could invite discrimination against veteran patients and health care providers.\n\nRecent reporting has uncovered how the Trump Administration is secretly changing guidelines in a way that leaves VA providers and patients with ambiguity regarding whether certain protected traits, including their political affiliation or sexual orientation, can serve as reasons for denial of health care for veterans or the hiring of medical professionals.\n\n\u201cWe write today to request information regarding recent changes to patient and staff policies governing medical facilities within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA),\u201d wrote the Senators in a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins. \u201cHaving reviewed past and current versions of bylaws for multiple medical facilities within the Department, we have confirmed the Department made changes, in secret and without notification to the veterans you serve or to Congress, that could allow for discrimination in treating patients and hiring medical professionals.\u201d\n\nThe Senators explicitly detailed the difference between the previous version of the bylaws and the new version. Language that previously required VA providers to care for veterans regardless of politics, marital status, age, national origin, and disability has been removed from certain VA health care facilities\u2019 medical bylaws. Language that also previously ensured decisions for who was able to be a part of VA\u2019s medical staff were made without regard to political affiliation, marital status, age, national origin, disability, gender, sexual orientation, and union membership have been removed from certain VA facilities\u2019 medical bylaws.\n\nWhile the Department has cited President Trump\u2019s discriminatory \u201cDefending Women\u201d Executive Order (EO) as rationale for making these changes, the Senators asserted that as \u201ca grossly overzealous interpretation of this EO and egregious misuse of power.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhile many of the previously specified traits that have been removed from VA facilities\u2019 bylaws potentially remain protected under existing statutes, the message VA is sending by stripping explicit references to these criteria is still deeply disturbing. Allowing, let alone encouraging, this ambiguity opens the door for widespread discrimination. These changes invite uncertainty as to whether a patient can be denied access to their earned health care or whether a provider is considered unfit to serve veterans based on anything other than their expertise and credentials. Even the appearance of allowing discrimination directly violates VA\u2019s own mission\u2026\u201d the Senators continued.\n\nThe Senators concluded, \u201cIt is your duty to answer to veterans, the public, and Congress as to why VA is sowing confusion and potentially putting veterans at risk and jeopardizing the Department\u2019s medical workforce, clinicians\u2019 licensure, and accreditation of its medical facilities nationwide. We insist you publish proper justification and clarification of these changes so as to leave no uncertainty as to the Department\u2019s protections for patients and employees against unlawful and unethical discrimination.\u201d\n\nIn addition to King, the letter was also signed by Democratic leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), and Mark Warner (D-VA).\n\nThe full text of the Senators\u2019 letter is available here and below.\n\n+++\n\nDear Secretary Collins:\n\nWe write today to request information regarding recent changes to patient and staff policies governing medical facilities within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Having reviewed past and current versions of bylaws for multiple medical facilities within the Department, we have confirmed the Department made changes, in secret and without notification to the veterans you serve or to Congress, that could allow for discrimination in treating patients and hiring medical professionals.\n\nPrevious versions of the bylaws outlined specific prohibitions on discrimination against patients \u201con the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, or disability\u201d (Article III, Section 3.03, paragraph 1). The new version prohibits discrimination only \u201con the basis of any legally protected status, including legally protected status such as race, color, religion, sex, or prior protected activity.\u201d Additionally, whereas prior versions of bylaws prohibited medical staff hiring decisions based on, among other criteria, national origin, gender, lawful partisan political affiliation, marital status, disability, age, and membership or non-membership in a labor organization (Article III, Section 3.01, paragraph 3), all of these specific criteria have been cut from the new version of the text. The Department, under your leadership, cites only Executive Order (EO) 14168 \u201cDefending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government\u201d as reasoning for implementing these bylaw changes. This is a grossly overzealous interpretation of this EO and egregious misuse of power.\n\nWhile many of the previously specified traits that have been removed from VA facilities\u2019 bylaws potentially remain protected under existing statutes, the message VA is sending by stripping explicit references to these criteria is still deeply disturbing. Allowing, let alone encouraging, this ambiguity opens the door for widespread discrimination. These changes invite uncertainty as to whether a patient can be denied access to their earned health care or whether a provider is considered unfit to serve veterans based on anything other than their expertise and credentials. Even the appearance of allowing discrimination directly violates VA\u2019s own mission: \u201cTo fulfill President Lincoln\u2019s promise to care for those who have served in our nation\u2019s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.\u201d\n\nThese new guidelines are deeply dangerous and pernicious in practice and principle. It is your duty to answer to veterans, the public, and Congress as to why VA is sowing confusion and potentially putting veterans at risk and jeopardizing the Department\u2019s medical workforce, clinicians\u2019 licensure, and accreditation of its medical facilities nationwide. We insist you publish proper justification and clarification of these changes so as to leave no uncertainty as to the Department\u2019s protections for patients and employees against unlawful and unethical discrimination.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T01:08:28Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-colleagues-demand-answers-on-potential-political-personal-discrimination-at-va"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8381730876863003, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}