During Suicide Prevention Month, King and Colleagues Urge Secretary of VA to Reinstate Funding for Suicide Prevention Efforts

WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee (SVAC), led his colleagues in urging the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reinstate funding for suicide prevention efforts that has been terminated for the upcoming fiscal year and protect remaining, unspent funds from being clawed back. In a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, King and his colleagues argue that the VA should be using every tool available to prevent the unnecessary deaths of veterans who risked their lives in service to the nation.

At present, Maine is one of only 10 states (and 2 territories) that received this funding. However, the VA has haphazardly determined that these suicide prevention efforts are not a "good return on investment" and are therefore terminating the funding.

The Senators began the letter, "We write regarding the recent notification that funding to our states to plan and develop Suicide Mortality Review (SMR) Committees will not be renewed for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and regarding the potential that any unused FY2025 funds may be clawed back. You have repeatedly stated that veteran suicide and suicide prevention is a top priority for you personally and for the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA), and we are concerned that cutting funding for the SMR projects in our states will make it harder to address veteran suicide."

"Our states know the severe impacts of veteran suicide all too well," they continued. "That is why they were awarded cooperative agreements to plan and develop SMR Committees to help address veteran suicide through a public health lens. SMR is grounded in evidence-based methods that are championed by the VA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This initiative prioritizes a review of veteran suicide deaths to identify systematic gaps and implement strategies to address suicide prevention for veterans in their communities."

"We encourage the VA to continue with year two of funding to give our states the opportunity to implement their plans, allowing them to demonstrate the value of SMR committees. The VA can't possibly be accurately evaluating the return on investment of this funding if they are only considering the planning phase and not allowing time for implementation. Additionally, in line with the President's February 18 directive to all agency heads ("Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending"), we urge you to "make public…the complete details of every terminated program, cancelled contract, terminated grant, or any other discontinued obligation" (emphasis added) of the VA funds used for these cooperative agreements. The public has a right to know why the VA is cutting services intended to save veterans' lives and support veterans' families," the Senators concluded.

Joining King on this letter are Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Representing one of the states with the highest rates of military families and veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America's servicemembers and veterans. A member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee (SVAC), he works to ensure American veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs such as the PACT Act, the State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care Flexibility Act, and the John Scott Hannon Act. Recently, in a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, Senator King joined his colleagues in urging for immediate action to secure veterans' personal information provided by VA or other agencies to Elon Musk and his "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), a measure that would protect millions of veterans' medical records stored in VA's computer systems. In addition, he helped pass the Veterans COLA Act, which increased benefits for 30,000 Maine veterans and their families.

Most recently, Senator King's legislation to improve customer service at the VA was signed into law by the President. He also introduced bipartisan legislation alongside SVAC Chairman Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) to improve care coordination for veterans who rely on both VA health care and Medicare. In February, Senator King was honored by the Disabled American Veterans as its 2025 Legislator of the Year. Last year, he was recognized by the Wounded Warrior Project as the 2024 Legislator of the Year for his "outstanding legislative effort and achievement to improve the lives of the wounded, ill, and injured veterans."

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

+++

Dear Secretary Collins:

We write regarding the recent notification that funding to our states to plan and develop Suicide Mortality Review (SMR) Committees will not be renewed for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and regarding the potential that any unused FY2025 funds may be clawed back. You have repeatedly stated that veteran suicide and suicide prevention is a top priority for you personally and for the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA), and we are concerned that cutting funding for the SMR projects in our states will make it harder to address veteran suicide.

Our states know the severe impacts of veteran suicide all too well. That is why they were awarded cooperative agreements to plan and develop SMR Committees to help address veteran suicide through a public health lens. SMR is grounded in evidence-based methods that are championed by the VA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This initiative prioritizes a review of veteran suicide deaths to identify systematic gaps and implement strategies to address suicide prevention for veterans in their communities.

These cooperative agreements were meant to help our states evaluate veteran suicide from a new perspective and try to determine if there are related factors influencing these deaths. These efforts take time, coordination, and a multi-disciplinary approach from a large number of community members. However, our states agreed to undertake these efforts because they believed that lives could be saved. The VA funded planning efforts, only to end funding after one year and before implementation could begin.

We encourage the VA to continue with year two of funding to give our states the opportunity to implement their plans, allowing them to demonstrate the value of SMR committees. The VA can't possibly be accurately evaluating the return on investment of this funding if they are only considering the planning phase and not allowing time for implementation. Additionally, in line with the President's February 18 directive to all agency heads ("Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending"), we urge you to "make public…the complete details of every terminated program, cancelled contract, terminated grant, or any other discontinued obligation" (emphasis added) of the VA funds used for these cooperative agreements. The public has a right to know why the VA is cutting services intended to save veterans' lives and support veterans' families.

According to the 2024 National Veterans Suicide Prevention Annual Report, an average of 17.6 veterans die by suicide each day. We should be using every available tool to prevent these deaths. Without this funding from the VA, our states will not be able to continue their critical work to meet federal and state suicide prevention goals to help save lives.

We look forward to continuing to work together on this important issue and we thank you for your attention to this matter that greatly impacts veterans in our states.

Sincerely,

###