In mid-June 2025, a claim circulated on social media that new rules implemented by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs allowed doctors to refuse treatment to Democrats and unmarried veterans.

The claims stemmed from a report (archived) published by The Guardian, on June 16, 2025. That report said doctors at VA hospitals ” could refuse to treat unmarried veterans and Democrats under new hospital guidelines imposed following an executive order” by U.S. President Donald Trump.

hospital The Guardian’s reporting relied on information from anonymous sources, so Snopes was unable to independently confirm its veracity. The reporter who wrote the article said he was unable to share original source documents without compromising his sources.

Multiple people within the Trump administration have called The Guardian’s report false, and a VA spokesperson said the agency has “asked the outlet to retract it.” A spokesperson for The Guardian said on June 17, 2025, that the news outlet has ” no plans to retract the story,” but added that it is “considering additional context provided by the VA after publication.” The news outlet later updated the story and its headline.

Snopes did uncover documents from one VA health care system showing that some of the language in its rules changed between 2023 and 2025. However, we were unable to independently confirm exactly when the changes took place or why they occurred.

In mid-June 2025, a claim (archived) circulated on social media that new rules implemented by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs allowed doctors to refuse treatment to Democrats and unmarried veterans.

For example, VoteVets, a progressive veterans advocacy group, shared the claim in an Instagram post (archived) on June 16:

The claim appeared elsewhere on (archived) Instagram (archived), Reddit (archived) and X (archived), often alongside a report published by The Guardian (archived), a British newspaper, on June 16, 2025. Additionally, scores of Snopes readers emailed us and searched our website to ask whether the claim was true.

The Guardian’s reporting relied on information from anonymous sources, so Snopes was unable to independently confirm its veracity. Aaron Glantz, the reporter who wrote The Guardian article, said he was unable to share original source documents without compromising his sources.

However, Snopes did uncover documents from one VA health care system showing that some of the language in its rules changed between 2023 and 2025 (more on that at the end of this story).

Snopes reached out to the VA, as well as several individual VA medical centers, for confirmation of the reported rule changes and explanations as to why they occurred.

A VA spokesperson initially pointed us to an X post (archived) by Secretary Doug Collins that called The Guardian’s report “ridiculous” and said all eligible veterans would continue to receive the benefits and services they’ve earned. The spokesperson followed up by providing a longer statement that read, in part: “The Guardian story is false, and VA has asked the outlet to retract it.”

On June 17, 2025, a spokesperson for The Guardian told Snopes via an emailed statement: “While we have no plans to retract the story – which highlights the VA’s removal of ‘politics’ and ‘marital status’ from a list of protections against discrimination within its bylaws – we are considering additional context provided by the VA after publication.” The news outlet updated the story and its headline on June 18, 2025.

Here’s a breakdown of The Guardian report that sparked the online claims and what we know about changes to the VA rules:

Claims stem from article published by The Guardian

The claims stemmed from a report (archived) published by The Guardian, a left-leaning news site, on June 16, 2025, originally titled, “‘Extremely disturbing and unethical’: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans.”

The Guardian originally reported that doctors at VA hospitals “could refuse to treat unmarried veterans and Democrats under new hospital guidelines imposed following an executive order” by Republican U.S. President Donald Trump. The new rules also applied to psychologists, dentists and other occupations, and had “already gone into effect in at least some VA medical centers,” according to The Guardian.

According to documents it reviewed, “doctors and other medical staff can also be barred from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity,” The Guardian reported.

VA officials cited Trump’s January 2025 executive order, titled, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” as the reason behind the changes, according to The Guardian.

That executive order proclaimed the federal government will recognize two sexes, male and female. It went on to define sex as “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female,” and added that “‘sex’ is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender identity.'” An expert provided Snopes analysis on how this executive order applied to the VA rule changes, which we detail below.

In response to The Guardian’s questions, VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz reportedly “did not dispute that the new rules allowed doctors to refuse to treat veteran patients based on their beliefs or that physicians could be dismissed based on their martial status or political affiliation, but said ‘all eligible veterans will always be welcome at the VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law.'”

Kasperowicz reportedly said the rule changes were “a formality,” but “confirmed they were made to comply with Trump’s executive order.” He added that the changes were needed to “ensure the VA policy comports with federal law,” but did not say which federal law or laws required the changes, according to The Guardian.

The Guardian updated report

On June 18, 2025, the Guardian updated the report (archived here) and its headline in response to information provided by the VA.

The news outlet wrote the following note at the bottom of the article:

This article and its headline were amended on 18 June 2025. An earlier version said that under the new rules, medical staff could refuse to treat veterans based on their beliefs or marital status, and that candidates for hospital positions could face discrimination on grounds of further characteristics removed from the bylaws. After publication, the VA contacted the Guardian citing a 2013 policy directive that it says will continue to protect patients from discrimination despite the redactions in its bylaws; the VA also cited federal law protecting staff from discrimination. The VA further emphasized that federal law gives all eligible veterans access to hospital services. The VA’s comments on this were added.

Snopes found several key changes in the language of the updated article compared with the original version.

First, the updated headline read: “VA hospitals remove politics and marital status from guidelines protecting patients from discrimination.”

The first sentence of the report was also changed. It previously read: “Doctors at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals nationwide could refuse to treat unmarried veterans and Democrats under new hospital guidelines imposed following an executive order by Donald Trump.”

The updated first sentence read: “The Department of Veterans Affairs has imposed new guidelines on VA hospitals nationwide that remove language that explicitly prohibited doctors from discriminating against patients based on their political beliefs or marital status.”

Language about the possibility of doctors and medical staff being “barred” from working at VA hospitals based on characteristics like their marital status and political party affiliation was removed from the report. Instead, the updated article read: “Explicit protections for VA doctors and other medical staff based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity have also been removed, documents reviewed by the Guardian show.”

Comments attributed to Kasperowicz were also revised in the updated article, which said the VA press secretary “did not dispute that language requiring medical staff to treat patients without discriminating on the basis of politics and marital status had been removed from the bylaws.”

Additionally, The Guardian provided further context from the VA in its updated report:

The VA said federal laws and a 2013 policy directive that prohibits discrimination on the basis of marital status or political affiliation would not allow patients within the categories removed from its bylaws to be excluded from treatment or allow discrimination against medical professionals. “Under no circumstances whatsoever would VA ever deny appropriate care to any eligible veterans or appropriate employment to any qualified potential employees,” a VA representative said.

Trump administration disputed The Guardian’s reporting

The updates came after multiple members of the Trump administration disputed The Guardian’s reporting on the new VA rules.

On June 16, 2025, the same day the article was published, VA Secretary Doug Collins called The Guardian’s story “false” and “ridiculous.” In a post on X (archived) responding to Glantz, Collins wrote:

More proof that the fake news CANNOT be trusted. This story is not only false, it’s ridiculous. All eligible Veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly also responded to Glantz in a post (archived) on X:

A VA spokesperson provided Snopes with a lengthier statement via email that called The Guardian’s story “false” and said the VA has “asked the outlet to retract it.”

The statement attributed to VA deputy assistant secretary for public affairs Macaulay Porter read, in part:

Here are the facts: VA recently updated its medical center bylaws to ensure compliance with White House executive orders, such as the order on Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government. These updates will have no impact whatsoever on who VA treats or employs. The fact that the Guardian is trying to misrepresent these changes as anything more than a formality underscores its extreme liberal bias and steadfast commitment to spreading disinformation.

The statement also referred to multiple “allegations” within The Guardian’s original report that the VA deemed false, citing “federal law.” Here are the examples the agency provided:

Guardian Allegation: “Doctors at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals nationwide could refuse to treat unmarried veterans and Democrats under new hospital guidelines imposed following an executive order by Donald Trump.” Response: False. Federal law prohibits that, and VA will always follow federal law. All eligible Veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law. Guardian Allegation: “But individual workers are now free to decline to care for patients based on personal characteristics not explicitly prohibited by federal law.” Response: False. Federal law prohibits that, and VA will always follow federal law. Guardian Allegation: “Doctors and other medical staff can also be barred from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity, documents reviewed by the Guardian show.” Response: False. Federal law prohibits that, and VA will always follow federal law. Guardian Allegation: Similarly, the bylaw on “decisions regarding medical staff membership” no longer forbids VA hospitals from discriminating against candidates for staff positions based on national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, membership in a labor organization or “lawful political party affiliation”. Response: False. Federal law prohibits that, and VA will always follow federal law. Guardian Allegation: “Under the new policy, some may have to register at a hospital in another region and travel more than a hundred miles to see a doctor.” Response: False. Federal law prohibits that, and VA will always follow federal law. All eligible Veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law.

In an email to Snopes on June 18, 2025, Porter cited a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of marital status or political affiliation and another that governs union participation rights.

Porter added that “health care eligibility” is based on two other federal laws, “not on categories such as political affiliation or marital status.” She continued:

Thus, on that statutory basis, VHA Directive 1019, which governs all medical services provided by VA, prohibits discrimination in the provision of services on the basis of marital status or political affiliation. Federal law and VHA Directive 1019 prohibit discrimination. All eligible Veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law.

Palo Alto bylaws show changes to language

Prior to the reported changes, “VA hospitals’ bylaws said that medical staff could not discriminate against patients ‘on the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status or disability in any employment matter,'” The Guardian reported. Now, “national origin,” “politics” and “marital status,” among other items, have been removed from the list, according to the newspaper.

According to The Guardian, VA rules also no longer forbid hospitals from discriminating against staff candidates based on national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, labor organization membership or “lawful political party affiliation.”

Glantz said he was unable to share original source documents with Snopes without compromising his sources. However, he directed us to current medical staff bylaws (archived) for the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in California that are posted online. The document listed an approval date of April 2, 2025.

Snopes compared the 2025 Palo Alto bylaws with an older archived set (dated March 27, 2023, but unsigned) and confirmed that language in at least two different sections had changed — notably, language about marital status and politics was absent from the most recent bylaws.

However, we were unable to independently confirm exactly when the changes took place or why they occurred.

A spokesperson for the VA Palo Alto Health Care System told Snopes via email that our inquiry was a “question of national policy” that would be “best addressed” by contacting the VA’s Office of Media Relations.

As we noted above, a VA spokesperson told Snopes the agency “recently updated its medical center bylaws to ensure compliance with White House executive orders, such as the order on Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” However, the VA did not elaborate on how the White House’s executive orders influenced changes to the agency’s rules.

Glantz pointed Snopes to relevant sections within the bylaws that fall under Article III. Medical Staff Membership. The first is part of Section 3.03 Code of Conduct.

This section in the 2025 bylaws read, in part (emphasis ours):

1. Acceptable Behavior : The VA expects that members of the medical staff will serve diligently, loyally, and cooperatively. They must avoid misconduct and other activities that conflict with their duties; exercise courtesy and dignity; and otherwise conduct themselves, both on and off duty, in a manner that reflects positively upon themselves and VA. Acceptable behavior includes the following (1) being on duty as scheduled. (2) being impartial in carrying out official duties and avoiding any action that might result in, or look as though, a medical staff member is giving preferential treatment to any person, group or organization, (3) not discriminating on the basis of any legally protected status, including legally protected status such as race, color, religion, sex, or prior protected activity in any employment matter or in providing benefits under any law administered by VA.

That same section in the bylaws dating back to 2023 included language about national origin, politics and marital status that was absent in the 2025 bylaws. The 2023 bylaws read, in part (emphasis ours):

1. Acceptable Behavior : The VA expects that members of the medical staff will serve diligently, loyally, and cooperatively. They must avoid misconduct and other activities that conflict with their duties; exercise courtesy and dignity; and otherwise conduct themselves, both on and off duty, in a manner that reflects positively upon themselves and VA. Acceptable behavior includes the following (1) being on duty as scheduled. (2) being impartial in carrying out official duties and avoiding any action that might result in, or look as though, a medical staff member is giving preferential treatment to any person, group or organization, (3) not discriminating on the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, or disability in any employment matter or in providing benefits under any law administered by VA

Language in a section about “decisions regarding medical staff membership” also changed from the 2023 to 2025 bylaws.

Section 3.01 Eligibility for Membership on the Medical Staff in the 2025 bylaws read, in part:

3. Decisions regarding Medical Staff membership are made consistent with law and without regard to an individual’s legally protected status, such as race, color, religion, sex, or prior protected activity.

In the 2023 bylaws, the same section read:

3. Decisions regarding Medical Staff membership are made without discrimination for reasons such as race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, lawful partisan political affiliation, marital status, physical or mental handicap when the individual is qualified to do the work, age, membership or non-membership in a labor organization, or on the basis of any other criteria unrelated to professional qualifications.

Experts weigh in on VA rule changes

Snopes reached out to Gary Barthel, a former U.S. Marine Corps officer and managing partner at the Military Law Center, to gain more insight about the changes to VA rules.

Trump’s executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” essentially “ordered federal agencies to enforce Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin, and to no longer include gender identity as a protected class,” Barthel said.

As a result, under the new VA bylaws, the agency “removed gender identity and other certain classes not specifically required under the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” such as marital status and political affiliation, Barthel added.

But Barthel said veterans should not be concerned about losing their benefits due to various protections that are in place.

“The changes are not likely to have any impact on a nonmarried or Democratic veteran from receiving care and if a care provider refused to provide care because of a veteran’s political affiliation or marital status, they likely would be disciplined for doing so and could lose their license to practice,” he wrote in an email to Snopes.

However, other experts have expressed concerns about what the rule changes mean in practice.

Dr. Kenneth Kizer, the VA’s top health care official during the Clinton Administration, told The Guardian they “seem to open the door to discrimination on the basis of anything that is not legally protected.”

Dr. Arthur Caplan, founding head of the division of medical ethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, also called the new rules “extremely disturbing and unethical,” The Guardian reported.

For many U.S. veterans, fear is spreading over rumors that an executive order signed by President Trump gives VA doctors the right to refuse treatment to unmarried veterans and Democrats.

Doug Collins, secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs, calls the rumors misinformation, citing the department’s Directive 1019, which governs all medical services provided by the VA and prohibits discrimination on the basis of marital status or political affiliation.

Legal minds point to two clauses of the U.S. Constitution that prove the executive order signed by Mr. Trump does not trump the constitution.

“The most important clause of the Constitution, it’s the Supremacy Clause, Article Six of the Constitution, that says the Constitution and treaties and laws made by Congress are the supreme law of the land,” said David Schultz, political science professor at Hamline University. “And the reason why I say that is presidential executive orders do not supersede federal law.”

Schultz says not treating someone based on political party affiliation gets into all sorts of First Amendment, free speech-type of issues.

“There’s a whole line of court cases that go back 50 years that the government may not generally discriminate against you based upon your partisan political persuasion,” Schultz said.

Collins said in a statement, “all eligible veterans will always be welcome at the VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law.”

Schultz adds the fact that doctors take an oath to “do no harm” plays a big role in how all patients are treated.

“If somebody comes in and needs treatment, and you refuse to treat that person and that person dies, it is not impossible that there could be some criminal laws, such as like homicide, manslaughter that might kick in also,” he said.

The VA has asked that the reports be retracted. Veterans who have questions and concerns are encouraged to call their local VA or reach out to their Congressional representative.

Healthcare professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs can now discriminate against Democrats, and it’s all thanks to Donald Trump’s anti-trans executive order.

While medical staff are still required to treat patients regardless of race, color, religion, or sex, new rules at the VA have explicitly removed protections based on political party affiliation, martial status, and national origin, The Guardian reported Monday.

Similarly, health care professionals can now be banned from working at the VA over their political affiliation, marital status, and union membership, according to documents obtained by The Guardian.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

The new rule changes apply to professionals across disciplines, including doctors, certified nurse practitioners, psychologists, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, podiatrists, licensed clinical social workers, and speech therapists.

VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz did not deny the reporting Monday, and told The Guardian that the changes were just a “formality” made in order to comply with Trump’s executive order “defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.”

VA Deputy Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Macaulay Porter, however, denied The Guardian’s characterization of the new policy, saying, “Updates will have no impact whatsoever on who VA treats or who works at VA.” Porter said that the VA would continue to comply with federal law preventing discrimination against patients and employees.

Dr. Arthur Caplan, founding head of the division of medical ethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, told The Guardian that the VA’s new rules were “extremely disturbing and unethical.”

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

“It seems on its face an effort to exert political control over the VA medical staff,” Caplan said. “What we typically tell people in healthcare is: ‘You keep your politics at home and take care of your patients.’”

“Those views aren’t relevant to caring for patients. So why would we put anyone at risk of losing care that way?” Caplan added.

Trump’s executive order attempting to redefine the government’s definitions of gender and sexuality has already upended essential medical care for transgender patients across the country, and opened the door for a sweeping crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights throughout the federal government.

The Trump administration has also taken part in a disturbing trend of targeting Democrats with violence and chaos. On Sunday, the president threatened to expand his inhumane immigration enforcement efforts to areas where voters support Democratic candidates. On Saturday, two democratic lawmakers in Minnesota and their families were targeted by an assassin.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

These new rules are also spurred by a Republican leadership that has embraced the nuclear American family in its desperation to cling to some invented past, sought to punish divorced people, and undermine programs that help single parents.

This story has been updated.

Doctors and other medical professionals working for the Department of Veterans Affairs can now refuse to treat Democrats and unmarried veterans.

VA hospital bylaws previously barred medical staff from discriminating against patients “on the basis of race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status or disability in any employment matter,” The Guardian reported.

But now, in response to President Donald Trump’s January executive order on “gender ideology,” “national origin,” “politics,” and “marital status” have been removed from the list, allowing medical staff to deny treatment based on their personal politics, according to the newspaper.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

Similarly, the bylaws on staffing decisions no longer prohibit discriminating against candidates on the basis of national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, membership in a union, or affiliation with a “lawful political party.”

Experts warned that under the new rules, VA staff could question veterans about their political activity and affiliations. / Pilar Olivares/Reuters

With more than 170 hospitals and more than 1,000 clinics, the VA is the largest integrated hospital system in the U.S. It employs 26,000 doctors and serves 9 million patients annually.

In an emailed statement to The Guardian, VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz did not deny that doctors can refuse to treat patients based on their beliefs or that hospitals could fire physicians based on their marital status or political affiliation.

“All eligible veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law,” he said in a statement, calling the rule changes a mere “formality.”

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

The Daily Beast has also reached out to the VA for comment.

The VA is the nation’s largest integrated hospital system. It employs 26,000 doctors and serves 9 million patients annually. / Ken Cedeno/Reuters

The new rules apply to a wide range of professionals, including psychologists, dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, certified nurse practitioners, podiatrists, social workers, and speech therapists.

Trump’s January executive order Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government aimed to strip government protections from transgender people and deny federal funding of “gender ideology.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how the VA made the leap to denying patient care and firing doctors over their political affiliations. Under the new rules, doctors could question veterans about whether they had attended Trump rallies or protests, experts warned.

Veterans have warned that the Trump administration risks turning the U.S. military into a political force by deploying active troops to American cities. / David McNew/Getty Images

VA employees told The Guardian that the new rules were imposed without consulting the system’s doctors, which would appear to violate the standards established by the nonprofit organization that accredits hospitals.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

The American Medical Association passed a resolution at its annual convention last week urging the VA to “ensure that any amendments to medical staff bylaws are subject to approval by medical staff in accordance with the Joint Commission standards.”

Kasperowicz said the VA had worked with the Joint Commission to make sure the changes would not affect the agency’s accreditation.

Medical ethics experts told The Guardian the new rules are “extremely disturbing and unethical.”

“It seems on its face an effort to exert political control over the VA medical staff,” said Dr. Arthur Caplan, founding head of the division of medical ethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine. “What we typically tell people in health care is: ‘You keep your politics at home and take care of your patients.’”

In response to a January executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has implemented new guidelines that permit individual doctors and other health professionals to refuse to treat patients based on their marital status or political beliefs, according to Monday reporting from The Guardian.

With the changes in place, “individual workers are now free to decline to care for patients based on personal characteristics not explicitly prohibited by federal law.”

According to The Guardian, previously VA hospitals’ bylaws said that medical staff could not discriminate against patients based on “race, age, color, sex, religion, national origin, politics, marital status, or disability in any employment matter.” Terms on that list including, “national origin,” “politics,” and “marital status,” are no longer there.

The changes “seem to open the door to discrimination on the basis of anything that is not legally protected,” Dr. Kenneth Kizer, the VA’s top healthcare official during the Clinton administration, told The Guardian.

The new guidelines, which also apply to psychologists and other occupations, are already in effect in at least some Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, according to the outlet.

The Veterans Health Administration, the largest integrated healthcare system in the country, provides care at over 1,300 healthcare facilities. According to the VA’s website, over 9.1 million veterans are enrolled in the VA healthcare program.

What’s more, the outlet reviewed documents that show that medical staff including doctors can now be barred “from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity.” Workers like certified nurse practitioners, chiropractors, and licensed clinical social workers, among others, are also impacted by the changes.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who is a senior member and former chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, issued a sharp statement in response to the news.

“Healthcare isn’t just a special privilege Trump gets to dole out to veterans who agree with the president—it’s a moral obligation our country owes to every single man and woman who serves in uniform. Anyone who doesn’t understand that has no business leading our armed forces in any way,” wrote Murray in a statement on Monday.

“It’s disgusting that this policy was ever allowed to go into effect, and I will not let it fly under the radar,” she added.

“This isn’t healthcare. It’s political purity tests for people who risked their lives for this country. It’s unethical, authoritarian, and every one of us should be outraged,” wrote VoteVets, a progressive veterans group, in a Bluesky post on Monday in response to The Guardian’s reporting.

🚨🚨 Trump’s VA just allowed doctors to deny care to Democrats, unmarried Veterans, among other groups. This isn’t healthcare. It’s political purity tests for people who risked their lives for this country. It’s unethical, authoritarian, and every one of us should be outraged.

[image or embed]

— VoteVets (@votevets.org) June 16, 2025 at 11:11 AM

According to The Guardian, VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz did not dispute these aspects of the new rules, but told the outlet that “all eligible veterans will always be welcome at VA and will always receive the benefits and services they’ve earned under the law.”

The rule change, according to The Guardian, stems from the January 30 executive order called “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

The outlet reported that the “primary purpose of the executive order was to strip most government protections from transgender people. The VA has since ceased providing most gender-affirming care and forbidden a long list of words, including ‘gender affirming’ and ‘transgender,’ from clinical settings.” The VA is currently led by former Republican congressman Doug Collins.

Kasperowicz confirmed that they were implemented to adhere to January executive order. He called the changes nothing more than a “formality.” He added that the revisions were necessary to “ensure VA policy comports with federal law,” but did not specify which laws made the changes necessary.