Project 2025 to Reduce Benefits for Disabled Veterans

Project 2025, the right-wing roadmap for a potential second Trump presidency, could be disastrous for veterans.
Project 2025 would cut benefits for disabled veterans

Article Summary –

Project 2025, crafted by former Trump administration officials, includes plans to drastically reduce veterans’ benefits and programs, replacing civil servants with political appointees to enforce conservative policies, particularly targeting abortion and gender-affirming care. The project also proposes cutting veterans’ disability benefits by re-evaluating and potentially lowering or removing current disability ratings, which could significantly affect veterans’ financial support and healthcare access. Additionally, the plan suggests firing 75% of federal employees, risking the jobs of 300,000 veterans, raising concerns about the broader impact on national security and military recruitment incentives.


Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for a potential second Trump presidency, threatens veterans’ benefits and programs. Drafted by former Trump administration officials, the plan aims to slash support for veterans.

The playbook’s chapter on the Department of Veterans Affairs advocates for “political control of the VA” by installing political appointees. It recommends rescinding VA directives that provide abortion services, calling it “a medical procedure unrelated to military service that the VA lacks the legal authority and clinical proficiency to perform.”

It also seeks to revoke clinical policy directives “contrary to principles of conservative governance,” including abortion services and gender-affirming care, although the authors don’t clarify these principles.

Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, said the project aims to ban public funds for reproductive health care and abortion for service members, stripping essential health care for millions of women and deterring them from military service.

This provision is part of Project 2025’s broader goal to eliminate abortion rights following the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. The project proposes removing “abortion” from federal laws, using the Comstock Act of 1873 to ban mailing abortion medication, restricting contraception use, and requiring federal agencies to track those receiving abortion care.

Project 2025 proposes cutting veterans’ disability benefits. The VA assigns disability ratings from 10% to 100% for service-related disabilities, providing tax-free benefits. The plan suggests reviewing and reducing these benefits to save money.

Michael Embrich, former policy advisor at the VA, explained that the plan involves reassessing veterans’ disabilities to potentially revoke benefits, which is unprecedented.

This could mean disabled veterans would lose benefits, and even existing claimants might face cuts, Embrich added.

“It’s like telling Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security recipients that they don’t qualify anymore based on arbitrary government decisions,” Embrich said.

Naveed Shah of Common Defense stated that accessing disability benefits is already arduous for veterans, with many facing multiple denials.

Shah emphasized the need for verification to prevent fraud but argued that Project 2025’s plans are excessively harsh.

“When people join the military, they commit their lives to the country. There should be no limit on caring for veterans when they return,” he said.

Other Project 2025 plans include firing 75% of federal employees in four years, jeopardizing 300,000 veterans’ jobs. It would reclassify civil service employees as political appointees, allowing the president to dismiss them at will.

“This should alarm every veteran, as it’s an attack on veterans and national security. Who will join the military if veterans are mistreated by the government?” Embrich questioned.


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