Will Trump Try to Shaft a Million Veterans Out of Billions in Educational Benefits?
As one of the first Post-9/11 veterans, I faced a stark choice from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) when I transitioned from military service to civilian life. While attending college, I could opt for the older, less generous Chapter 32 of the post-Vietnam era veterans’ Montgomery G.I. Bill, or I could take advantage of the newer, more robust Chapter 33 post-9/11 veterans’ G.I. Bill. With college prices much higher than the Vietnam Era, like many others, I chose the latter.
But there was a catch: By selecting Chapter 33, I was forced to forfeit the first year of my Chapter 32 benefits. This condition, imposed on millions of veterans, effectively denied us thousands of dollars in educational support. This partly voided the military’s guarantee of free education for military service. Even with this setback, the Chapter 33 benefits were superior — so it was a tradeoff I, and many others, reluctantly accepted.
For veterans who saw this as a grave injustice, there was one beacon of hope: James Rudisill. An Army veteran and FBI agent, Rudisill took legal action against the VA to challenge the forfeiture policy. His fight culminated in a Supreme Court decision last year ruling that the VA’s actions were unlawful. The decision requires the VA to repay billions of dollars in benefits to eligible veterans — and earlier this month, the VA announced earlier this month TKTK.
This victory was a long time coming. However, it was not without resistance. The Trump administration, notorious for its attempts to slash the VA budget and federal spending, fought this case all the way to the Supreme Court. The case was originally filed as Rudisill v. Wilkie, for Trump’s then VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of Rudisill and veterans. The dissent came from two conservative justices: Clarence Thomas, who benefited from Yale Law School’s financial aid, and Samuel Alito, an Army veteran.
For veterans like me, who have been burdened with student loan debt while waiting for justice, the ruling is bittersweet. I took out $30,000 in loans to cover the gap left by my forfeited benefits. Ten years later, I owe $31,000. Multiply that by the estimated million veterans affected, and the magnitude of this failure becomes clear. Despite this ruling, many veterans who took out student loans are still on the hook.
Yet this ruling presents a significant challenge to Trump’s campaign promises. He has vowed to cut trillions from the federal budget, including hundreds of millions from the VA. Paying back these benefits directly undermines his government-slashing agenda. So, will Trump comply with the Supreme Court’s mandate? Based on Trump’s track record of abiding by court orders, it’s unlikely.
This is the same Trump administration that has promised to gut the federal government under its Department of Government Efficiency or “DOGE” agenda — a grift at best, a pump-and-dump crypto scheme at worst. to dismantle entire departments and weaken agencies like the VA. Trump’s ability to sidestep accountability comes from a different Supreme Court ruling that he is immune from criminal liability for so-called official acts committed as president.
Trump’s disregard for legal and moral obligations to veterans is nothing new. His administration routinely prioritized “cost-cutting” over service members’ well-being, whether by attempting to privatize the VA in his first term, delaying benefits claims, or ignoring the systemic issues plaguing veterans’ health care. With this ruling, veterans stand to gain billions in owed benefits. But Trump’s track record suggests he will fight tooth and nail to deny us what we have rightfully earned.
For veterans, this is yet another battle in a long war for justice and adequate health care. The Supreme Court’s decision is a step forward, but the fight is far from over. If Trump attempts to defy the payouts, as he has with so many others, it will be up to Congress and the American public to hold him accountable.
We’ve served our country. Now it’s time for the government to uphold its end of the bargain, no matter who sits in the Oval Office. Veterans shouldn’t have to sue to receive what we were promised, and we certainly shouldn’t have to fight a president who sees our sacrifices as just another line item to cut.
The question isn’t whether Trump will try to shaft veterans again. The question is whether we, as a nation, will let him.
Michael Embrich is a veteran, former member of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs’ Advisory Committee on the Readjustment of Veterans, and a former congressional staffer.
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