Trump's executive orders cause 'chaos' at the VA, some staffers say
President Donald Trump has implemented a flurry of executive orders and policies that have touched nearly every corner of the federal government, and the Department of Veterans Affair has not been immune.
Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs say President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders and policy changes have already chipped away at staff morale, and now they fear the impact will be felt by the country’s 9 million veterans for whom the VA provides lifelong care and benefits.
Nearly a dozen VA employees working in various capacities across the U.S. — from a boiler plant operator in Nebraska to a cancer researcher in the northwest — spoke with NBC News about how the changes have already affected their jobs.
More than half of them used the same word to describe what they’ve experienced: chaos.
Mary Brinkmeyer worked at the Hampton VA Medical Center as a psychologist and LGBTQ care coordinator for three years.Mary BrinkmeyerMary Brinkmeyer, who until Wednesday was a psychologist and LGBTQ care coordinator at a Veterans Affairs facility in Virginia, said unwelcome changes started to ripple through her hospital just days after Trump issued an executive order stating the U.S. would recognize only two unchangeable sexes and directing federal agencies to stop funding “gender ideology.”
In addition to mandating that patients and staff use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their birth sex, hospital leadership instructed Brinkmeyer and other mental health employees to remove all of the LGBTQ-affirming materials throughout the sprawling VA facility. This included Pride magnets on office doors and signage providing information about LGBTQ care. Brinkmeyer said she was initially instructed to disband the facility’s LGBTQ veteran therapy groups, but that decision was eventually reversed.
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