A Warrior's Homecoming: Trump's Push To End Veteran Homelessness

Authored by Stacy Washington via RealClearDefense,

During the four years between the end of President Trump’s first term and the beginning of his second, Americans witnessed a dramatic reversal in national priorities.

While the Biden administration committed tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to defend Ukraine and illegal immigrants, it simultaneously neglected America’s borders and the very people who defended them — its veterans.

Last summer, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) revealed that VA personnel were diverted to process medical claims for individuals in ICE custody — non-citizens whose very presence violates U.S. law. Veterans who had earned those services were left to wait.

Even more brazenly, the Biden administration implemented a rule to allow illegal immigrants to live in public housing indefinitely. This despite the fact that over 33,000 veterans remain homeless and the wait list for public housing remains extremely long. It’s no wonder America’s military’s military heroes felt betrayed.

President Trump ran on a promise to restore rational governance and reorder our national priorities. He called it a “revolution of common sense,” and voters gave him a clear mandate to carry it out.

A major step in that revolution came on May 9, when Trump signed an executive order establishing a “National Center for Warrior Independence,” a facility that will house up to 6,000 homeless veterans who have been ignored for too long.

Crucially, the order redirects funds that the Biden administration had used to house illegal immigrants and instead puts them where they belong — in service of those who defended our country.

The Trump administration is right. VA resources and taxpayer support should serve the Americans who risked their lives for this nation, not individuals who violated its laws to enter. The fact that this principle even needs to be spelled out speaks to how far Biden-era priorities went off track.

Providing homeless veterans shelter is critical, but the deeper challenge is preventing their homelessness in the first place.

Numerous studies have found that high housing costs drive higher rates of homelessness.

Instead of addressing this situation, the Biden administration exacerbated it. Reckless federal spending pushed inflation to record highs, forcing half of all renters to spend more than a third of their income just to keep a roof over their heads. Millions of families spent more than half. For many veterans who were already struggling, it was impossible to keep up.

Instead of taking responsibility for the inflation and policy failure that destabilized veterans’ housing situations, Biden looked for scapegoats, and his allies in Congress continue to do so.

For example, In February, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ruben Gallego demanded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth initiate a federal investigation into rent pricing software firms, accusing them of inflating rents for military families (Biden made similar comments when in office). Meanwhile, much like Kelley Blue Book, all this technology does is report on the current marketplace conditions. This is a classic Washington move — blame the private sector to cover for a government failure.

The real driver of rising rents for military families, of course, was not the Kelley Blue Book of the housing industry but rather Biden’s runaway inflation, supply-killing regulations, and resource diversion to illegal immigrants. Yet many in Congress continue to push this scapegoating of the private sector, supporting the Biden DOJ’s scapegoating of this technology.

In sharp contrast, the Trump administration is not only ensuring federal resources prioritize homing veterans, not illegal aliens, but it is also taking significant deregulatory actions to lower prices across the board.

Still, ensuring veterans have adequate shelter isn’t enough. Many homeless veterans struggle with mental health and addiction challenges. In Los Angeles, where the new center will be built, only 62%of available veteran housing vouchers are even used, in part because proper support services aren’t available.

Trump has committed to making the VA more efficient, and that’s badly needed. But reforms will take time. In the meantime, he should urge Congress to expand access to civilian providers through the Defense Department’s TRICARE system when VA care isn’t available. For veterans in crisis, delays can be deadly.

We may never know how many veterans died waiting for care or housing while Biden’s administration used their tax dollars to serve illegal immigrants instead. But at least President Trump’s executive order is closing the chapter on that era. It marks the beginning of a long-overdue course correction to put American veterans where they always belonged — at the front of the line.

By securing the border, prioritizing housing for those who served, and fighting inflation through smart economic policy, Trump is restoring dignity, support, and opportunity to those who earned it. For the next three-and-a-half years, veterans, and all Americans, can be confident that their government is once again working for them.

Stacy Washington (@StacyOnTheRight) is a decorated Air Force veteran, an Emmy-nominated TV personality, and the host of Stacy on the Right, which airs nightly 9 pm to midnight ET on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125. She is a frequent guest on Fox News and previously served as an Advisory Board Member for Veterans for Trump.