Top House Veterans Affairs leader pledges action after Trump ends LGBTQ+ care network for those who served

Rep. Mark Takano, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, is accusing the Trump administration of deliberately undermining veterans’ health care after the Department of Veterans Affairs quietly moved to dismantle the national network that coordinated care for LGBTQ+ veterans.The gay California congressman, who also chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus, sharply criticized the administration after The Advocate obtained an internal Veterans Health Administration email showing officials are ending the infrastructure that has supported the LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator program for more than a decade.The July 23 email, signed by Mark A. Koeniger, the Veterans Health Administration’s acting assistant under secretary for health for patient care services, directs that LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinators be redesignated as general care coordinators. It also orders an end to the program’s monthly calls, regional leadership meetings, orientation sessions and national communications while archiving Microsoft Teams channels and SharePoint resources developed specifically for the program.Related: Trump administration announces end to gender-affirming care for transgender veteransFor Takano, the move represents more than an administrative reorganization.“Shuttering the LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator program is just the latest cruel attack by the Trump administration on our nation’s veterans,” Takano said in a statement to The Advocate.He argued the decision fits a broader pattern of policies that, in his view, have weakened the Department of Veterans Affairs and narrowed access to care.“Everything this administration has done since Trump took power, from pushing privatization of VA to enacting a near-total ban on abortion care, is directly harming the veterans we’re supposed to serve,” Takano said. “As the lead Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I will do everything I can to defend every veteran’s access to cultura