The Vets v. Veterans Affairs
Stay current on Powers v. McDonough, the class action lawsuit between the federal government and disabled veterans seeking permanent housing on the West Los Angeles VA campus.
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On August 6, 2024, 14 unhoused U.S. military veterans will challenge the federal government for access to housing on the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus. Their lawsuit alleges that “despite a lawsuit, two Acts of Congress, and two reports of the Office of Inspector General detailing the VA’s failings, the West Los Angeles VA’s Master Plan 2022 will leave thousands of veterans to live and die on the streets of Los Angeles for many years to come.” The government’s response to the suit argues the court lacked jurisdiction to rule on the matter and that it doesn’t owe a fiduciary duty to the veterans. Nevertheless, the trial is scheduled to commence this summer.
The issue at stake isn’t just the fate of these service members — or even the wider class of unhoused veterans who have become a party to the case — but perhaps an entirely new way of approaching veteran care. If VA’s mission is to care for those ‘who shall have borne the battle,’ where does that care begin and end? This case may ultimately extend the VA’s purview beyond its hospital walls and into the realm of housing, as it originally was on the property in question.
As covered in Long Lead’s Home of the Brave feature, the West LA VA is a 388-acre campus originally donated to the federal government in 1888, following a law signed by Abraham Lincoln establishing the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers — a predecessor to the VA we know today. The land’s deed stipulated that the plot be used to “permanently maintain” housing for disabled volunteer soldiers, which it did until the early 1970s. At its peak in the late 1950s, 5,000 veterans made their homes on the property. Fifteen years later, all the vets were evicted from the land, and have been fighting for housing on the campus ever since. More than 3,800 unhoused service members live on the streets of LA County today.
Written by Meghann Cuniff, whom the Washington Post calls “arguably the most influential legal journalist working today,” this newsletter will provide updates and breaking developments in the Powers v. McDonough litigation, from pretrial procedures through the lawsuit’s conclusion. Subscribe today to follow the veterans’ fight for housing at the West LA VA and receive updates as a daily email newsletter once the trial begins.