A "Crown Jewel" at Risk

By: Cassandra Williamson

16 July 2025, Wednesday

Hardy, Pike County, KY

To join me on stage for Midday with Cassandra around 1 PM EDT weekdays, use this link: https://studio.restream.io/edo-xdco-unr To join me on stage for The Path Forward at 6 PM EDT weekdays, use this link: https://studio.restream.io/edy-bdnb-csp Remember, I strongly encourage and seek out view-point diversity. We gain nothing by regurgitating echo-chamber content. I actually prefer to listen to those who oppose my right to live freely, openly, and honestly in the country for which I served. I also prefer to engage in discussions, and even research, that is founded upon the idea that to be successful over the long term, we need to design such things using a balanced adversarial approach.

A "Crown Jewel" at Risk: How the War on Science Threatens Veterans and America's Future

A quiet crisis is unfolding within the U.S. government—one that threatens to dismantle America's scientific leadership, erode public trust, and, most alarmingly, betray a sacred promise to our nation's veterans. While the phrase "war on science" has been used for years, our comprehensive new report reveals it is no longer just rhetoric. It is a systematic, evidence-based reality.

Our in-depth analysis, "Policy, Politics, and Purity," documents a multi-front campaign by the current administration to reshape the federal scientific enterprise. This strategy is being executed through a "pincer movement" of crippling budget cuts from below and the imposition of ideological control from above. Federal agencies that form the bedrock of American innovation are being targeted with staggering proposed budget reductions, including a 40% cut for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and over 50% for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).² Simultaneously, a new guard of leaders, known for their public criticism of the scientific establishment, has been installed at the top of these very agencies.¹⁴

To see the devastating real-world consequences of these policies, one need look no further than the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Million Veteran Program (MVP). Described by a former VA Secretary as a "crown jewel of the country," the MVP is a monumental research database built on the altruism of over one million American veterans who volunteered their genetic and health data.⁷ It is a source of immense national pride and scientific potential, holding the keys to unlocking cures and treatments for diseases like PTSD, cancer, and heart disease that affect veterans and the general population alike.¹⁰

Yet, this vital program is now in the crosshairs. Our report details how the MVP is being systematically undermined by administrative neglect. The most immediate threat is a bureaucratic failure to renew a critical partnership with the Department of Energy, which provides the supercomputing power necessary to analyze the MVP's massive dataset.⁷ Without it, the data generously donated by a million veterans is at risk of being wasted. This is compounded by a "death by a thousand cuts," as the VA's research arm suffers from hiring freezes and the cancellation of dozens of essential contracts, stalling what internal emails call "life-saving cancer trials".⁷

The situation facing the Million Veteran Program is a stark illustration of a broader agenda's collateral damage. It reveals a conflict where ideological goals are taking precedence over the tangible well-being of our nation's heroes and the future of medical progress for all. This is more than a policy debate; it is about the integrity of our institutions and the promises we keep.

To understand the full scope of this crisis—the specific policies, the key players, and the long-term consequences for American science and health—we urge you to read the complete report.

Click here to read the full, in-depth analysis: "Policy, Politics, and Purity: An Analysis of the Trump Administration's Science Agenda and its Impact on the Million Veteran Program."