“On the very first day of the Trump Administration, all VA research staff became subject to a hiring freeze and probationary firings. Those delays are partially due to a wildly inefficient hiring process for VA research staff. “VA researchers are not only being undermined by delays and cuts at the Department, but also by instability and cuts at other federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health, which frequently provides funding for our VA researchers. “Large VA research sites are also reporting their non-VA federal funding is down one-third or more compared to the previous year. “Given the current state of VA research under this administration – there is a demoralized workforce with limited access to non-VA federal funding – so it is really inexplicable to request a decrease in funding for VA research for fiscal year 2027.