A 13News Now report details how a new VA clinic in Chesapeake, Va. will open with just 150 of the 550 staff members it desperately needs—thanks to cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs under Donald Trump. Despite the clinic’s critical role in providing essential healthcare to the 78,000 veterans in her district, Congresswoman Jen Kiggans has remained silent, failing to address the severe understaffing that threatens to leave local veterans without the care they deserve.

13 News Now: Chesapeake VA clinic to open with fewer staff amid ongoing cuts to the federal government

• “After years, the long-awaited grand opening of the Chesapeake VA clinic is almost at hand, but the grand moment is going to be shrouded under a cloud of uncertainty.”

• “For the more than 120,000 military veterans who live on the Southside of Hampton Roads, it is supposed to be a game-changer, relieving them of having to drive over to the Hampton VA Medical Center for care.”

• “But, after a tour Wednesday, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and Representative Bobby Scott said they were told the new clinic will have just 150 of the 550 staffers it is supposed to have.”

• "’Having a hiring freeze, having the mass layoffs of probationary staff employees at the VA and elsewhere, and having a VA administrator that says 'our goal is to take maybe another 80,000 employees out of the VA' makes it extremely difficult to recruit, and makes it extremely difficult to retain,’ said Kaine.”

• "’And to cut back on basic health care the way the Veterans Administration nationally is doing is just outrageous. It is particularly egregious in this area,’ said Scott.”