West Los Angeles Veterans Housing Moving Forward

President Trump’s planned veteran housing community in West Los Angeles is moving forward under a shroud of secrecy.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is purportedly requiring everyone associated with the project’s planning, including employees, contractors and other government officials, to sign nondisclosure agreements, the Los Angeles Times reported. Congressional staffers and veterans and their advocates are reportedly barred from reviewing or commenting on the plan.

Trump first issued the executive order May 9, giving the VA 120 days to come up with a plan “to house up to 6,000 homeless veterans” by the beginning of 2028 in a so-called National Center for Warrior Independence. The development is planned for the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center campus.

Last week, Rep. Mark Takano, a ranking member on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, convened a so-called roundtable at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in downtown Los Angeles to discuss the plan.

“Although I disagree with the president on almost everything, I am as eager as he is to see the Soldiers’ Home become a community for veterans and to see us establish a Center for Warrior Independence in West L.A.,” Takano said.

The figure of 6,000 homeless vets is three times greater than the housing currently planned for the 388-acre property, raising questions about what kind of housing is intended for the site, as well as where exactly it would be built, how much it would all cost, and where the funding would come from.

The VA has included $530 million for construction on the West L.A. campus in its current budget request, though it’s unclear whether that amount will be approved by Congress. So far, the House has passed a nearly $1.8 billion appropriation to fund all construction of VA hospitals, clinics, housing and cemeteries across the country.

The VA is required to produce 1,200 units of permanent housing on the site as part of a settlement of a 2011 lawsuit, according to the Times. The VA contracted the work to affordable housing developers, who then secured outside funding through tax credits. Currently, 571 of those units have been completed.

It remains to be seen just how many of the details behind Trump’s plan are hammered out in secret.

“I’ve seen over the years how it goes when you have meetings behind closed doors and you don’t consult with people affected by the plan,” Iraq War veteran Rob Reynolds said at the roundtable on the executive order, per the L.A. Times. “There’s going to be problems with that plan.”

VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz, in response to a Times request for comment, said that “the VA recently announced $818 million in grants to fight veteran homelessness across the country, of which more than $138 million will benefit veterans in California.”— Chris Malone Méndez