adminSecretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins made it plain on Newsmax’s Wake Up America on October 1, 2025: our veterans are a priority even as Washington grinds to another shutdown. His blunt assessment should serve as a wake-up call to every patriot who believes public servants ought to protect those who served, not use them as bargaining chips in budget games.
Collins told viewers that thanks to advance appropriations roughly 97 percent of VA operations will continue during the shutdown, but he warned the remaining 3 percent at risk could have outsized, tragic consequences for vets and their families. That qualification matters—what seems like a small percentage on a ledger can mean the difference between a timely burial, a smooth transition to civilian life, or critical outreach that prevents a tragedy. Americans should not tolerate politicians treating even a sliver of veterans’ care as expendable.
The secretary was specific about what’s being squeezed: transition program assistance, career counseling, outreach to state, county and tribal partners, and even ground maintenance and permanent headstone installations at national cemeteries are being delayed. These are not bureaucratic niceties; they are the basic honors and supports Americans owe to those who paid the price for our freedoms. The sight of headstone requests and pre-need burials sitting unprocessed while Capitol Hill holds hostage funding is shameful.
Republican senators and veterans advocates are right to call out who’s responsible for this mess, and Sen. Bill Cassidy echoed Collins’ warning that the shutdown is hurting veterans’ outreach and transition services. If one party’s brinkmanship is the proximate cause, they should be named and held accountable by voters and watchdogs alike. Washington’s political theater must not come at the expense of veterans’ dignity or well-being.
Collins didn’t parachute into this role—he was confirmed as VA secretary on February 4, 2025, and came in promising to cut red tape and improve care for veterans nationwide. His background as a veteran and former congressman gives him credibility to say what needs fixing, and his sober warnings during this shutdown deserve support, not Washington sniping. Americans who care about veterans should back his efforts to shield critical services from partisan collapse.
Now is the moment for decisive action: Congress must immediately pass clean, targeted funding to protect outreach, career transition programs, and cemetery maintenance so that no veteran or grieving family suffers due to political stalemate. Conservative leaders should seize this as an opportunity to root out wasteful bureaucracy while ensuring the government fulfills its solemn obligations to those who served. Washington must choose veterans over vanity.
Hardworking Americans should stand with Secretary Collins and demand that their elected officials do the same—no more excuses, no more show votes, just results for the men and women who defended this country. If politicians won’t put veterans first, voters must remember come election time who broke faith and who kept their word.
