President Trump signs executive order for more homeless veteran housing at West LA VA campus
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order aimed at turning the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Campus into the nation's largest center for homeless veteran care.
The order directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish the center as the National Center for Warrior Independence, which will offer homeless veterans the chance to seek and receive care, benefits and a range of services, including substance abuse treatment and support for productive work.
"Funds previously spent on housing or other services for illegal aliens will be redirected to construct, establish, and maintain this Center," said a release from the White House.
By 2028 they hope to house up to 6,000 homeless veterans at the center.
The order further instructs the Secretary of Veteran Affairs to "restore accountability" at the Department of Veterans Affairs by "taking action against individuals who have committed misconduct," as well as investigating the previous administration's "decision to rehire and reinstate back pay for employees previously fired for misconduct."
"President Trump strongly believes that every veteran deserves our gratitude, and that the federal government should treat veterans like the heroes they are," said the White House's statement.
Currently the VA and veterans are in the midst of a legal battle over whether the campus be cleared of non-veteran tenants and used to build housing for the homeless.
The VA is has appealed a ruling made in 2024 that it must build nearly 2,000 permanent housing units on the campus for disabled and homeless veterans.
"After decades of mismanagement, VA has been leasing parts of its 388-acre West Los Angeles VA Medical Center campus to a wealthy and exclusive private school and the University of California, Los Angeles, baseball team," said a statement from the VA. "Today's executive order will enable us to ensure VA's West Los Angeles Campus is being used as intended: to benefit Veterans. Our goal is to turn the campus into a beacon of hope and a destination for homeless Veterans from across the nation who can travel there to find housing and support and start their journey back to self-sufficiency."
