HAMPTON, Va. - Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia) and other Republicans sent VA Secretary Denis McDonough a scathing letter Thursday after the Secretary claimed a Republican spending plan would lead to massive cuts at the VA.
The Dept. of Veterans Affairs recently issued a press release saying the Republican plan would lead to a 22-percent cut at the VA, which they say would lead to a massive cut in veteran healthcare coverage.
Right now, Congress is facing a looming deadline to raise the debt ceiling for risk defaulting on the nation's debt.
House Republicans have passed a spending plan to would make $4.5 trillion in federal spending cuts and raise the debt ceiling until next year.
The Republicans say the budget cuts are not targeted at the VA.
"The facts are that nowhere in the Limit, Save, Grow Act is it indicated that the VA budget would be cut," the letter reads, calling the claims "dishonest and shameless."
News 3 reached out to the VA for a response to the letter and a spokesperson said they had nothing further to add.
During a press conference last week, McDonough said he was basing his claims on the fact the VA was not specifically mentioned as spared from cuts like the Department of Defense is.
"I read the bill and the bill does not carve VA out of the potential cuts. The bill does carve DOD out of the potential cuts," he said.
"The leaders of the Congressional bodies that oversee and fund the VA have all firmly stated that veterans’ earned care and benefits are not on the table. The VA purposely chose to ignore these facts in favor of baseless political talking points," the Republicans' letter states.
The Treasury Secretary says the US could default on its debt as soon as June 5 as both sides continues to debate the next steps.
