Musk, Ramaswamy Proposal to Slash Spending Could Include VA Medical Services - Video

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Musk, Ramaswamy Proposal to Slash Spending Could Include VA Medical Services

A plan by the incoming Trump administration to slash government funding could kneecap Department of Veterans Affairs health care.

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal this week, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead the so-called "Department of Government Efficiency," confirmed that they plan to target "unauthorized" federal spending, a category that includes the VA's medical services.

"DOGE will help end federal overspending by taking aim at the $500 billion-plus in annual federal expenditures that are unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended," they wrote, specifically citing funding for nonprofit grants and PBS.

The pair did not specifically call out the VA. But the type of spending they're taking issue with includes about $120 billion for the VA's medical services, according to a report issued earlier this year from the Congressional Budget Office.

Historically, in order for a federal agency to operate, Congress passes two different types of legislation: an authorization bill to authorize funding and an appropriations bill to actually allocate the funding.

For example, for the Pentagon, Congress passes the National Defense Authorization Act and a Pentagon appropriations bill every year.

But for most federal agencies, Congress hasn't bothered with the authorization bills in years, instead streamlining its work by considering the appropriations bills to be self-authorizing.