Congressman Derek Tran Champions Disabled Veterans’ Access to Affordable Healthcare Amid VA Cuts

Mar

2026

PRESS RELEASE

Congressman Derek Tran Champions Disabled Veterans’ Access to Affordable Healthcare Amid VA Cuts

Garden Grove, CA – Following the recent announcement from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) that would make it more challenging for disabled Veterans to access affordable healthcare, frontline candidate Congressman Derek Tran (CA-45), who represents the most competitive House seat in Southern California, sent a letter slamming the VA for their blatant disregard of Veterans’ wellbeing.

Immediately upon receiving the letter, the VA reversed their announcement at the urging of Congressman Tran and over 60 House colleagues. Despite this relief for Veterans, this comes as the Trump Administration continues their unprecedented attack on the VA, stripping the department of 40,000 employees that have led to increased wait times at VA facilities and eliminating thousands of VA medical positions necessary for providing essential healthcare to Veterans.

“It’s clear that under Trump’s VA, Veterans’ wellbeing is far from the priority,” said Congressman Tran. “Instead of expanding Veterans’ access to critical healthcare they can afford, the VA proposed a rule change that would have forced disabled Veterans to choose between being healthy or receiving their full benefits. As an Army Veteran, this was insulting, senseless, and demanded immediate action to reign in the VA’s gross incompetence. I’m relieved that the VA scrapped their plan at my urging, and I call on the VA to refrain from further harmful actions that put our Veterans at risk.”

Since day one, Congressman Tran has championed legislation that protects Veterans and ensures the VA has the resources to appropriately and effectively provide support to the 15.7 million Veterans nationwide. Amid Trump’s funding and staffing cuts to the VA last year, Tran introduced his first piece of legislation, the Protect Veteran Jobs Act, which supports Veterans who were wrongfully terminated from their civil service positions. In September, Tran’s bipartisan Delivering Digitally to Our Veterans Act, which cuts red tape to simplify Veterans’ educational benefits through the G.I. Bill, unanimously passed the House. In Orange County, Tran has signed onto two letters urging federal support for the county’s first-ever Veteran cemetery at Gypsum Canyon.