Chesapeake: Partisan Ribbon Cutting Surprises Many at North Battlefield Veterans Outpatient Clinic
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North Battlefield Outpatient Clinic in Chesapeake to Open Under Staffed, Partisan Ribbon Cutting Surprises Many
CHESAPEAKE, VA — On April 10, local veterans, facility staff and local leaders gathered for a ribbon cutting for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs new North Battlefield Outpatient Clinic in Chesapeake.
A group of about 50 protesters also gathered outside the facility before the event to speak against a staffing shortage they say will impact veteran care. The facility will open on April 17. The Chesapeake location at 70 Knell’s Ridge Blvd. will offer a myriad of outpatient services including dental care. Though the facility can staff up to 500 professionals the number of employees will be around 125 when the facility opens next week.
The VA has long been plagued by stories of long wait times and delays. The Trump Administration’s unverified claims of mass “fraud” as a reason for austerity has many worried the Chesapeake facility will not be able to service the area’s large veteran community. Those concerns were voiced by Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Bobby Scott after a tour in mid-March.
Congressman Scott, Delegate Michael Feggans and Chesapeake City Council members Ella Ward, Pat King and Les Smith, Jr. attended the ribbon cutting event, along with many other elected leaders. But the event featured a rare partisan broadside, rarely seen at a celebratory event, aimed at the Dean of Virginia’s congressional delegation, whose district the new VA center resides in.
Below and above: Demonstrators hold signs in support of veterans services and “restoring jobs” and putting an “end to chaos” outside the new out-patient veterans facility in Chesapeake. Rep. Scott and Del. Feggans at the event.
In an unusually partisan run-of-show, Rep. Scott was excluded from the speaking program and the cutting of the ribbon. Though seated in the first row at an event in a facility in his congressional district, the ten-person speaking program and seven person lineup to cut the ribbon at stage front did not include Rep. Scott, a Black Democrat who has represented Hampton Roads for three decades. Several in attendance noticed the oversight.
An actively building culture of anti-Black, anti-diverse policy in Trump’s second term is now omnipresent reality. It’s seen not only in Trump’s executive orders, but often in the most micro-aggressive acts. An unfazed Rep. Scott was greeted warmly by former Congressman Randy Forbes and others before and after the festivities.
Though the event took place in his district, Rep. Scott wasn’t acknowledged by any of the first eight speakers from the stage, including John Thomas, the Executive Director for Construction and Facility Management at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who mentioned Virginia’s two U.S. Senators (who were not present) and Rep. Jen Kiggans, but not Rep. Scott. It would be the second to last speaker at the ceremony, Congresswoman Kiggans, who broke trend — perhaps sensing the oversight.
“Congressman Bobby Scott is also here. Thank you for being here. I know I speak for both of us when I say that veteran health care is a bipartisan issue that I know Congressman Scott and I both share in prioritizing,” Rep. Kiggans told the crowd early in her remarks.
Both Rep. Scott and Rep. Kiggans attended the ribbon cutting hours after voting on the floor of the U.S. House on whether to cut $1.5 trillion of the federal budget. House Republicans are pushing hard to implement Trump’s agenda and give tax cuts to wealthy individuals, many of whom make up a large part of their donor base.
A $1.5 trillion cut to the federal budget is certain to require cuts to social safety net programs including Medicaid and food stamps. Kiggans voted “yes” to the cuts, Scott voted “no.” Rep. Kiggans departed the Chesapeake event and did not join a session with the media with VA Sec. Doug Collins after the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Virginia has over 600,000 veterans, almost 10 percent of the civilian population 18 and over. Virginia has the third-highest share of veterans in America. Elected leaders in the area and medical professionals based in Chesapeake say that the center is likely to be very busy and if under-staffing is an issue it will soon be revealed.
In remarks by Trump Administration Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins yesterday in Chesapeake, he appeared to address the 2,000 pound elephant in the room that hung over the event: How is the chainsaw wielding DOGE-run Trump Administration going to cut $1.5 trillion and not impact veterans services? There was no clear answer. Collins’ staff informed media that he couldn’t “get into the details staffing.”
The March 5 announcement statement from Collins after it was reported that 80,000 VA personnel would be cut was joined with the claim that the cuts were part of “generational change” and statements that the VA would “work better” as they “eliminate waste and bureaucracy.”
On March 26, Collins asserted that Rep. Scott and Sen. Tim Kaine were “lying to veterans” about facility staffing but in fact the two Virginia lawmakers were accurate: The facility will open understaffed.
When questioned after the event on wait times and staffing shortages and the impact of DOGE’s budget cutting, Collins had few specific answers about the staff shortage and repeated again that staffing would ramp up as needed.
“Putting money and people at a problem doesn’t always solve the problem when the metrics don’t change. When wait times are getting worse and backlogs for disability benefits are still there and you’ve added billions and it doesn’t change,” Collins said to occasional unenthusiastic applause from an audience of veterans, facility staff and elected officials. Collins appeared to sense the skepticism.
“Some of you have heard good things about me and some of you — I think I can see — are saying ‘I’m not sure about him,” Collins added towards the end of his remarks. The comment was an understatement.
Yesterday on Capitol Hill in Washington, member spoke on the issue of austerity and veterans.
“I just came out of a steering committee hearing to highlight all the cuts that Trump and Musk are doing to our federal workforce — basically cutting a huge amount of opportunities and employment for our veterans … Healthcare services to our veterans is being undermined by all these cuts. This is ridiculous. Our veterans jobs are being cut, and services to our veterans, especially in healthcare, are being reduced. It's gonna impact their lives,” said Rep. Salud Carbajal in a post on social media from Capitol Hill on April 10.
Virginia Beach School Board Votes to Eliminate DEI Initiatives
On April 9, the Virginia Beach School Board voted 6-3 to eliminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from Virginia Beach City Public Schools.
The resolution was passed under the threat of budgetary threats if President Trump’s executive order to kill diversity wasn’t complied with. The Virginia Beach City Public School system will now effectively dismantle diversity-focused programs and replace them with an “Office of Opportunity and Achievement.”
Three members of the House of Delegates who represent Virginia Beach objected to the move.
“This decision is not about compliance—it’s about capitulation,” said Delegate Feggans. “It’s an alarming move that disregards the lived experiences of Black and Brown students, LGBTQ+ youth, and immigrant families. The message it sends is that their voices don’t matter,” Del. Feggans stated in a April 10 release.
A joint letter on the matter from State Senator Aaron Rouse, Delegate Alex Askew, and Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler, Delegate Feggans called the School Board’s April 8, 2025 resolution “a deeply troubling step backward for students and families across the city.”
“Virginia Beach has long served as a leader in public education. This reversal not only hurts our local students, but threatens decades of progress in creating inclusive and equitable learning environments,” Del. Feggans added.
Feggans and fellow legislators are urging the School Board to reverse its decision and fully reinstate the diversity initiatives.
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