Senator Richard Blumenthal, Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, has issued a statement following the Senate's confirmation of John Bartrum as Under Secretary for Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Bartrum, who has served as a senior advisor to VA Secretary Doug Collins since January, will now lead the nation’s largest integrated health care system.
Blumenthal expressed concern about Bartrum’s appointment, stating: “Trump political acolyte John Bartrum is the wrong choice to lead VA’s health care system. As a Senior Advisor to VA Secretary Collins, he has played a key role in stonewalling and slow walking Congress and veterans— continuously hiding information about VA’s budget, community care wait times, contract cancellations, and staffing plans. He has also refused to implement laws as Congress intended— playing a central role in withholding critical funding required to be distributed to homeless service providers who support nearly 25,000 of our most vulnerable veterans. His lack of transparency and responsiveness to Congress is wholly unacceptable for someone who will now be tasked with leading the largest health care system in our country at a critical inflection point, and I am disappointed in this body’s decision to confirm him.”
According to Blumenthal, during his time as senior advisor for Collins, Bartrum was involved in decisions such as firing thousands of health care staff members and cancelling numerous VA contracts. He was also accused of politicizing the process for publishing VA research. Additionally, Blumenthal stated that Bartrum did not carry out certain laws passed by Congress as intended—including withholding funding mandated under the bipartisan Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare & Benefits Improvement Act from organizations serving over 25,000 homeless veterans.
The Under Secretary for Health oversees the VA health care system that provides medical services to more than nine million enrolled veterans nationwide.
