Blumenthal Successfully Attaches his Amendment to Protect Veterans Crisis Line from Trump VA Cuts to Key Senate Funding Bill

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today secured two amendments to safeguard veterans’ resources to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act that passed tonight. Blumenthal’s amendments will protect the Veterans Crisis Line from future cuts under the Trump Administration, and enact additional oversight requirements for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) before cancelling contracts serving veterans.

“I voted for the overall bill with these amendments because this bipartisan package makes necessary investments in programs that serve our veterans and servicemembers, rejecting dangerous cuts proposed by the Trump Administration and House Republicans.”

“The Veterans Crisis Line needs protection from the Trump Administration’s careless cuts, freezes, and firings—protection I’m glad this body is providing by adopting my legislative amendment to shield this lifesaving resource from any future Trump VA cuts. Our straightforward provision will ensure the Administration is barred from diminishing this lifesaving resource aimed at ending one of our nation’s most serious problem—veteran suicide. I am also encouraged the Senate’s adoption of my amendment to provide greater transparency to VA’s contract cancellation process was adopted. Members from both sides of the aisle have been continuously slow rolled and slow walked when it comes to the most basic information around this Administration’s chaotic cancellation of contracts serving veterans. It’s clear Congress needs to put additional safeguards in place against this Administration—safeguards my amendments will enact.”

“This bill makes major investments in VA medical care, veteran homelessness prevention, mental health services, and more. It also provides significant new funding for military housing – an issue I have been proud to champion on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Fulfilling our obligations to our veterans and servicemembers is one of our highest priorities.”

Blumenthal’s amendment, drafted with U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), will protect the Veterans Crisis Line—a free, confidential 24/7 lifesaving resource available to veterans and their families. Specifically, it will prohibit funds from the FY 26 MilCon-VA Appropriations Act from being used to reduce staffing at the Veterans Crisis Line, limit its hours of operations, decrease training opportunities, or otherwise reduce the capacity of the resource to assist veterans in crisis.

During the Trump Administration’s first wave of mass illegal firings at VA, 24 Veterans Crisis Line employees were fired without warning. This included staff who coordinate on-the-ground emergency response services to locate and save veterans considered particularly at-risk of death by suicide. At a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing in June, former Crisis Line staff communicated to Congress that these firings and Trump VA cuts have taken a massive emotional and mental toll on Veterans Crisis Line staff who are already understaffed and face significant mental burdens working with at-risk or suicidal veterans. Since January 2025, the Veterans Crisis Line has seen a dramatic increase in call volume, including from terminated government employees who are veterans or veterans working in the federal government who are fearful of being fired.

Blumenthal’s second amendment to bring greater transparency to VA contract cancellations, drafted with U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), will bar any funds from the FY 26 MilCon-VA Appropriations bill to be used to cancel any VA contract with a value of more than $10 million—until the VA Secretary submits to Congress an advance notification with a contingency plan to replace the service being cancelled.

This amendment was introduced in response to the Trump Administration’s ongoing cancellation of hundreds of VA contracts delivering services to veterans or supporting VA operations, which began earlier this year under Elon Musk’s DOGE operation. Despite multiple requests from Blumenthal and Congressional Democrats, VA Secretary Doug Collins refuses to send Congress a complete and accurate list of contracts VA cancelled or is otherwise ending and answer basic questions about this chaotic process. Reporting has exposed how the Trump VA used untested AI formulas to decide which contracts to cancel, and that the Administration falsely claimed credit for savings that never materialized. Among the contracts cancelled include contracts for suicide prevention programs; radiology services; cancer care and registries; nursing home care for veterans; and ensuring safe and clean hospitals.

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