Bipartisan Congressional Lawmakers Invite Trump’s VA Secretary To Psychedelics Meeting To Discuss Access For Military Veterans

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers are asking President Donald Trump’s head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to meet with them to discuss ways to provide access to psychedelic medicine for military veterans.

In a letter sent to VA Secretary Doug Collins on Wednesday, Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) and Jack Bergman (R-MI)—co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelic Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus—said they were “encouraged by your recent remarks about the importance of pursuing research into psychedelic treatments and other alternative treatments to improve Veterans’ care.”

Collins, a former GOP congressman, has been vocal about his interest in exploring psychedelics therapy—including in a recent Cabinet meeting with Trump.

During a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, he separately reiterated his commitment to exploring the efficacy of psychedelic therapy to address serious mental health conditions that commonly afflict military veterans.

That includes clinical trials that VA is either conducting or supporting, such as $1.5 million in funding for “MDMA-assisted therapy to treat PTSD and alcohol use disorder in Veterans last December was a critical step in advancing this research,” as the congressmen wrote in their letter.

“Given the promising results of clinical studies on these substances and their therapeutic usage, it is our hope that we can work together to bring these therapies to Veterans in a safe and effective manner,” Correa and Bergman said.

“Every day approximately eighteen Veterans commit suicide. We owe it to these warriors to explore all possible medical treatments to cure the invisible wounds caused by their dedicated service—because even one death is too many,” they said. “We invite you to meet with us at your earliest convenience to further discuss areas of potential collaboration regarding these promising therapies.”

Correa and Bergman separately introduced a bill last month to provide $30 million in funding annually to establish psychedelics-focused “centers for excellence” at VA facilities, where veterans could receive novel treatment involving substances like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine.

Bergman has also expressed optimism about the prospects of advancing psychedelics reform under Trump, arguing that the administration’s efforts to cut spending and the federal workforce will give agencies “spines” to tackle such complex issues.

Collins, for his part, has previously said he had an “eye-opening” talk with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about psychedelics issues and intended to press Congress to act.

The VA secretary also recently said that he’s open to the idea of having the government provide vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of VA as Congress considers pathways for access.

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In December, VA separately announced that it’s providing $1.5 million in funding to study the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Last year, Rachel Yehuda, who has overseen some psychedelic research as director of mental health at VA’s James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, also touted an initial study the agency funded that produced “stunning and robust results” from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy.

In January, former VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal said that it was “very encouraging” that Trump’s pick to have Kennedy lead HHS has supported psychedelics reform. And he hoped to work with him on the issue if he stayed on for the next administration, but that didn’t pan out.

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