Donald Trump’s plan to reform the scandal-ridden Veterans Affairs department invited mixed reactions from a panel of veterans Monday who wanted more specifics from the Republican presidential candidate.
“On the surface, this plan sounds great,” Katie Horgan, a retired Marine Corps captain, told Fox News. “It mentions a lot of the top issues that veterans are facing [and] it calls for increased transparency and accountability in the VA.”
“But at the end of the day, this is an oversimplified solution to a very complex problem,” she added. “There’s no mention in this plan of how [Trump] would accomplish these initiatives. It’s a very aggressive agenda, and I think it’s going to be a lot more difficult to implement than he’s letting on.”
Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL, said Trump’s history as a savvy businessman and expert negotiator gives him reason to believe the GOP front-runner would ensure his reform proposals are implemented, if he’s elected president.
“What is Trump known for? He’s known for the line, ‘you’re fired,’ and there’s no better way to bring accountability to a business than to fire the people who are in charge of it,” Higbie said.
He added, “If you have failed as a VA official, he’s going to hold you accountable. If we want to get this done, we need a businessman to get it.”
Less confident in the billionaire’s plan to “Make the VA Great Again” was Kieran Lalor, a Republican assemblyman in New York and founder of the Iraq Vets for Congress PAC. Lalor remained skeptical that Trump would be able to work with what is likely to be the strongest opponent of privatizing the VA health system.
“The big thing is the union that represents the VA workers is going to resist all of this,” Lalor said, adding, “If you’re not willing to take on that union, you’re not going to be able to accomplish any of this.”
“He doesn’t even address that in his pretty long platform there. He doesn’t address that unions are going to dig in and [that] every idea to take away funding or power from the actual VA and send it to the private sector is going to be fought tooth and nail,” Lalor added.
