May 17, 2025
On May 9, President Donald Trump signed his 150th executive order of 2025, directing Veterans Affairs (VA) to create a center for homeless veterans in Los Angeles on the VA’s West L.A. campus.
This site has been subject to legal troubles recently. Last fall, a federal judge ruled the VA failed veterans in its fiduciary duty to provide them with housing. The judge ordered additional housing and invalidated leases of portions of the land given to civilian entities, including UCLA and a private school. The decision has been appealed.
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The executive order instructs VA chief Doug Collins to prepare a plan within 120 days to house 6,000 homeless veterans on the campus by 2028, and take action to “restore accountability” at the department.
Trump also ordered that “funds that may have been spent on housing or other services for illegal aliens are redirected to construct, establish and maintain” the new facility, which will be called the National Center for Warrior Independence.
It has not been made clear which programs for housing and undocumented immigrants will be required to give up their funding, or how these funds will be reallocated to the project.
Veteran services in LA
The White House acknowledged that L.A. is the city with the largest share of unhoused veterans nationwide.
“Los Angeles has approximately 3,000 homeless veterans — more than any other city in the country and accounting for about 10% of all homeless veterans in America," The White House said in a statement released May 9.
The existing Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program (HUD-VASH) seems to be ineffective in helping veterans secure stable housing. In 2024, the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System reported that while there were 8,453 HUD-VASH housing vouchers available for housing veterans in the greater Los Angeles area, only 62% were in use. A report in the Los Angeles Times attributed this middling figure to delays in processing and resistance from landlords to accept them.
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Reaction from veterans
A number of veterans viewed Trump’s executive order as a positive sign.
The Veterans Collective, which has a contract with the VA to construct approximately 1,200 housing units on the campus, issued a statement saying it “enthusiastically applauds President Trump’s plan for a national center for homeless veterans,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
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Others, however, took a cautiously optimistic approach.
“The President's Executive Order is a right thing but not yet the right thing,” Anthony Allman of Vets Advocacy told the news publication. "We look forward to working with the administration to make the right things — housing, community, workforce development — available to veterans.”
Trump's cuts to the VA
The executive order comes in the midst of substantial cuts to staffing for Veterans Affairs. The White House statement on the executive order notes that the president signed legislation to “remove thousands of VA workers who failed to give our vets the care they so richly deserve.”
The Trump administration aims to cut the VA’s workforce by 15% under DOGE, according to NPR. Approximately 470,000 people are employed by the VA, the vast majority of them medical professionals. The broadcaster reported on May 10 that 11,273 VA employees across the country had applied for a deferred resignation. About 1,300 of these applications were from nurses, 800 from medical support assistants and 300 from social workers.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America organization conducted a poll in which more than 80% of veterans said they are concerned about the recent federal cuts and their impact on veteran benefits and health care.
"A lot of veterans are calling us, and they're worried because they're afraid that this is going to affect their health care, this is going to affect the benefits," Dan Clare of Disabled American Veterans told NPR.
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Rebecca Holland is dedicated to creating clear, accessible advice for readers navigating the complexities of money management, investing and financial planning. Her work has been featured in respected publications including the Financial Post, The Globe & Mail, and the Edmonton Journal.
