[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Early this morning, the Senate Republican majority voted down Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) amendment to provide toxic-exposed veterans and their families certainty and protect the PACT Act in light of egregious attempts by President Trump and Elon Musk to shrink the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The amendment would have ensured complete and uninterrupted funding for VA health care and benefits provided by the PACT Act.

52 Republican Senators voted against Blumenthal’s amendment to protect toxic-exposed veterans and survivors’ expanded benefits and health care provided under the PACT Act. As a result the amendment failed 47-52. In response, Blumenthal released the following statement:

“Veterans need protection from dangerous threats to PACT Act care and benefits—protection Republicans refused to provide when they blocked my legislative amendment during the budget debate last night. The PACT Act was a historic breakthrough bipartisan measure, but now Elon Musk and his tech bros are firing the VA workers necessary to administer it. Republicans should be held accountable for failing to stand up for veterans exposed to toxic substance who rely on PACT Act support.”

The Trump Administration’s initiatives to slash VA’s workforce directly impact Veterans Benefits Administration employees who ensure veterans exposed to toxins during their military service apply for and receive benefits through the PACT Act. This has included cancelling PACT Act outreach events that have been critical to bringing massive numbers of veterans into the VA system, and Trump’s hiring freeze for VA that has no exemptions for Veterans Benefits Administration employees.

Ahead of the vote, Blumenthal emphasized this point to his Republican and Democratic colleagues: “…[T]he Trump Administration is aggressively attempting to decimate the VA workforce…the people integral to fulfilling our promise under the PACT Act. Veterans have waited decades for the PACT Act's benefits and health care. Protecting it should be a bipartisan priority…If President Trump has no plans to erode the PACT Act, voting for this amendment should not be a concern for my Republican colleagues.”

As Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Blumenthal is a staunch defender of protecting and expanding benefits and health care veterans earned and deserve—including their disability compensation provided under the PACT Act. Blumenthal championed key provisions of the PACT Act to expand benefits, health care, and compensation to toxic-exposed veterans previously unable to access VA services and helped get it passed into law in 2022.

More than 1.2 million veterans and survivors of veterans have received PACT Act-related benefits since August 2022, when the bill was enacted. More than 194,000 veterans have enrolled in VA health care through the PACT Act.