Navy Veteran Steve Sukut from Glasgow: “The fact that Tim Sheehy would be endorsed by a group that wants to close this clinic shows why we can’t trust him – he isn’t looking out for us”

Helena, MT – New reporting from the Montana Independent revealed Tim Sheehy’s endorsers Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) – who Sheehy is campaigning with later this month – advocated for shuttering rural veterans’ clinics in Montana. 

CVA is part of the Koch brothers’ dark money network. The group has supported proposals to close VA clinics across the country – including clinics in Browning, Glasgow, and Plentywood. 

Montana veterans spoke out against CVA’s plan. Ken Koehler, a Marine Corps veteran from Miles City said, “Without this clinic, I would have to travel far and wide for health care. Anyone who wants to close VA clinics like Miles City doesn’t understand life for rural veterans. I’m a Republican, and I know firsthand that Senator Jon Tester will always go to bat for veterans – he listened to us and put a stop to this closure.”

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Montana Independent: Tim Sheehy to speak at town hall hosted by right-wing group that favors closing VA clinics
August 7, 2024
Josh Israel

• Montana Republican U.S. Senate nominee Tim Sheehy will speak at a town hall hosted by Concerned Veterans for America, a right-wing lobbying group that backs privatization of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and supported a federal report from 2022 that recommended closing four Montana VA facilities. 
   
• According to social media ads, Sheehy will be the special guest at an Aug. 23 veterans town hall event hosted by Concerned Veterans for America in Bozeman. 
   
• Sheehy has touted an endorsement from the group, which is part of [...] billionaire Charles Koch’s network of anti-government political groups. 
   
• The Sheehy campaign did not immediately respond to a Montana Independent request for comment for this story.
   
• Veterans organizations have been critical of what they call Concerned Veterans for America’s deceptive efforts to push VA privatization. “They’re a political lobbying firm,” American Legion national director of veterans affairs and rehabilitation told the Washington Post in 2018. “They’re not a veterans organization. They’re using veterans issues as a tool to push a political agenda.”
   
• More than 47,000 Montana veterans are enrolled to receive health care through the VA. 
   
• In 2022, the department’s Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission proposed that 35 medical centers across the nation be either closed or redesigned and that many services be moved from VA facilities to outside providers.
   
• Concerned Veterans for America supported the proposal, arguing that older facilities cannot keep up with evolving care and that many facilities are underused. “Each facility represents money that could be spent at a more active facility or following veterans to their providers of choice,” it said in a blog post.
   
• Montana veterans objected to the plan.
   
• “As a Montana veteran, I know how devastating it would be to lose the Glasgow VA Clinic,” Navy veteran Steve Sukut of Glasgow, Montana, said in a statement to the Montana Independent, noting his support for Tester. “This clinic is a lifeline for so many veterans in our rural area. The fact that Tim Sheehy would be endorsed by a group that wants to close this clinic shows why we can’t trust him – he isn’t looking out for us.”
   
• Ken Koehler, a Marine Corps veteran from Miles City, said that he relies on the clinic there for his care. “Without this clinic, I would have to travel far and wide for health care. Anyone who wants to close VA clinics like Miles City doesn’t understand life for rural veterans. I’m a Republican, and I know firsthand that Senator Jon Tester will always go to bat for veterans – he listened to us and put a stop to this closure.”
   
• As chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Tester joined with Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines and 10 other colleagues from both parties to effectively block the recommendations. 
   
• “As Senators, we share a commitment to expanding and strengthening modern VA infrastructure in a way that upholds our obligations to America’s veterans,” they said in a joint July 2022 statement. “We believe the recommendations put forth to the AIR Commission are not reflective of that goal, and would put veterans in both rural and urban areas at a disadvantage, which is why we are announcing that this process does not have our support and will not move forward.”
   
• A May 2024 poll conducted by the VA found 80% of veterans who use the agency “trust VA to fulfill our country’s commitment to Veterans.”