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Carl Higbie used his new FRONTLINE platform to issue a blunt warning: the Department of Veterans Affairs is broken and only radical change will deliver the care our heroes deserve. He challenged the same cozy bureaucracy that has long talked about reform while veterans keep waiting for appointments and answers. Americans who put on the uniform deserve action, not more excuses.
Higbie’s words matter because he’s not a Washington insider spinning talking points — he’s a former Navy SEAL who has fought for veterans’ causes and has repeatedly exposed waste and corruption in the veteran-support world. He has a track record calling out phony charities and the culture inside the VA that shields mismanagement from accountability. When a combat vet speaks about fixing a system that fails his brothers and sisters in arms, Washington should listen, not smirk.
The facts he points to are undeniable: programs meant to expand care outside the VA have been tangled in red tape, and veterans frequently face long waits or confusing bureaucracy when they try to get help. Independent examinations and reporting show the supposed “fixes” have too often fallen short, leaving men and women who bled for this country to navigate a Byzantine system just to see a doctor. If we expect courage on foreign battlefields, we must demand the same courage of our leaders to fix what’s broken at home.
Conservative solutions are straightforward and practical: restore accountability, return power to local clinicians, expand community care and give veterans real choice in where they receive treatment. Republicans in Congress and reform-minded officials have been pushing measures to streamline services and let veterans see trusted local providers rather than wait months in distant VA clinics. It’s time to stop defending an empire of paperwork and start empowering clinicians to treat patients, not fill out forms.
Washington’s permanent class will howl when you threaten their turf — but that’s the point. Real reform is going to anger bureaucrats accustomed to the status quo, and leaders like Higbie are right to point that out and press for bold action. The longer we tolerate a system that rewards insiders over injured veterans, the more we betray our obligations as a nation.
This isn’t a partisan stunt — it’s a moral imperative for every American who believes service should be met with honor, not indifference. Patriots in Congress, activists in the grassroots, and citizens who cherish our vets must rally behind clear reforms that deliver timely care and real accountability. If we love our country, we must love its warriors enough to overhaul a system that has failed them for far too long.
