Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to legislation President Donald Trump signed into law on Wednesday. White House officials later clarified that Trump was referring to different legislation in his tweets.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized Congress’ handling of a relatively noncontroversial piece of veterans legislation, saying lawmakers should have used the measure to push through an unrelated controversial increase in the country’s debt ceiling.
In a series of tweets Thursday morning, Trump said he had asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to tie the recently finalized Veterans Affairs’ Choice Program extension to the debt ceiling increase, which Congress needs to act upon before Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown.
“[They] didn’t do it so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval,” Trump wrote. “Could have been so easy — now a mess!”
The Choice Program extension legislation added $2.1 billion to the program — which allows veterans to seek care at private sector medical centers at the government’s expense — to keep it operational into early 2018. VA officials had lobbied Congress for the money to prevent disruptions in veterans’ health care in the coming months.
House lawmakers passed the measure by a 414-0 vote in late July, but only after a week of contentious debate among party leaders and veterans groups. In the end, Republican officials had to add $1.8 billion in new VA leases and personnel spending to get outside advocates’ endorsement of the measure.
Senate leaders used unanimous-consent rules to finalize the measure without any opposition.
The issue was a major fight for the veterans community, one that veterans groups and VA administrators had forcefully lobbied Congress to adopt. But on a national stage, it was a largely unheralded issue, amounting to extending a benefit for a small subset of the whole nation.
The debt ceiling legislation, on the other hand, has been a major point of contention for both parties in recent years. Fiscal conservatives have repeatedly threatened a government shutdown over the ever-increasing national debt limit and forced concessions on federal spending cuts before voting for the raises.
The issue is expected to be a major fight in the upcoming September legislative session.
If the debt ceiling language was attached to the Choice Program extension bill, the measure likely would not have passed as quickly and quietly as it did. Veterans groups and leaders of the veterans committees on Capitol Hill have opposed attempts to add controversial issues to the critical VA reforms, arguing they would further delay the important changes.
Trump’s comments are the latest sign of increasing friction with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. At a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday, he indirectly attacked Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake for their opposition to his public comments. Multiple news reports have cited behind-the-scenes fights between McConnell and Trump over a series of legislative priorities.
Also on Tuesday, Trump threatened a partial government shutdown this fall if lawmakers don’t fund his plans for a new security wall along the U.S. southern border.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
