VA advisory panels on Gulf War illness and women veterans go quiet, members say

Current and former members say the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is letting several of its outside advisory panels go quiet. Two of them are the panel that reviews research on Gulf War Illness and the committee that advises on care for women veterans ¹. The VA has 27 federal advisory committees. A Stars and Stripes review published Oct. 27 found that fewer than half of them had posted meeting minutes in 2026 ¹.

Members say the VA has not renewed expiring terms or filled empty seats. That makes it hard to reach a quorum, the minimum number of members needed to hold an official meeting ¹. Congress created 18 of the 27 committees by law ¹.

I couldn’t see myself being on that committee in name only.

Gulf War panel shrinks to four members

Brown and other former members said the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses met only once in 2026. A September meeting was canceled because not enough members were left to reach a quorum ¹. The committee's charter calls for 14 members. Thomas Mathers, an Army Gulf War veteran, said he recently learned it is down to four ¹.

Ronald Brown, an Army veteran, has been waiting two years for the VA to renew his appointment and has applied three times ¹. Mathers's three-year term ended in 2025. He said, "I cannot even get a response to my application for reappointment" ¹. He also said he "was the only veteran with a background in pharmaceutical development to serve on the committee" ¹.

Brown said the panel needs members who served in that war and have service-connected health problems. "Veterans have been impacted by Gulf War Illness now for 36 years," he said ¹.

Women veterans committee has not met since December 2024

The Advisory Committee on Women Veterans assesses women veterans' needs and recommends improvements to the VA secretary ². The charter that VA Secretary Doug Collins signed on Oct. 6, 2025, says the committee must meet twice a year and send in a report by July 1 each year ².

The VA's own Advisory Committee Management Office files show the committee has not met since December 2024. No report was published for 2025 or 2026, ten House Democrats wrote in a letter to Collins ². The committee's last chair, retired Air Force Col. Wanda A. Wright, resigned in April 2026. She said the VA had "effectively rendered the Committee inactive" ².

Veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors deserve nothing less than a clear accounting

Reps. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Veronica Escobar of Texas, both Democrats, led the letter ²³. The other signers were Reps. Terri Sewell, Ed Case, Chrissy Houlahan, George Latimer, Nikki Budzinski, Tim Kennedy, Madeleine Dean and Deborah Ross ². The letter cites the federal law that requires the secretary to consult the committee on VA health care, benefits and outreach ²³.

The lawmakers asked Collins five questions and wanted answers by Oct. 2 ². They asked how many times the committee met in 2025 and 2026, and how the VA is making decisions about women veterans' care without it ². They also asked whether the committee's budget and staff had been moved to other work, and how its money was spent in fiscal years 2025 and 2026 ².

The VA is always recruiting candidates for membership in its federal advisory committees

Other panels, and the VA's answer

Dr. Gregg Meyer is a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Harvard Medical School professor. He chaired the VA's Special Medical Advisory Group until he was asked to step down without explanation, he said ¹. That group last met in August 2025. "To my knowledge, there has been radio silence about the future of the committee," Meyer said ¹.

VA press secretary Quinn Slaven said the department is always looking for new members. He said people interested in serving can email a resume and cover letter to vaadvisorycmte@va.gov ¹. He did not explain why some committees have not met ¹. Mathers said the VA's website listed former members as active until recently ¹.

I cannot even get a response to my application for reappointment

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the 1972 law that governs these outside panels, the VA approves, schedules and organizes the meetings and appoints the members ¹. The General Services Administration, which oversees advisory committees across the government, says there is no single meeting requirement. Each committee follows shared federal standards and its own charter ¹.

Why it matters

Analysis: These committees give veterans, doctors and researchers a formal way to tell VA leaders what is working and what is not. Because the VA controls both the meeting calendar and the appointments, a panel can be sidelined without Congress ever voting to shut it down. It only takes leaving seats empty and not calling meetings.

The pattern matters most for groups whose problems took years to get recognized, such as Gulf War veterans and women veterans. Without these panels, it gets harder for the people affected to make their case before VA research and care decisions are made.

Escobar is on the ballot this November against Republican Adam Bauman ³. The election will shape the political context for congressional oversight of the VA, including the answers these lawmakers asked for.

The Record

1. Oct 6, 2025VA Secretary Doug Collins signs the women veterans committee charter, which requires meetings twice a year and an annual report by July 1 ².
2. Sep 17, 2026Ten House Democrats led by Reps. Goodlander and Escobar write to Collins about the inactive women veterans committee ²³.
3. Oct 2, 2026The lawmakers' deadline for the VA to answer their five questions ².
4. Oct 27, 2026Stars and Stripes reports that fewer than half of the VA's 27 advisory committees posted meeting minutes in 2026 and that the Gulf War panel is down to four members ¹.

Sources

1. Stars and Stripes, “‘Seats are not being filled’: Veterans say VA is not supporting stakeholder advisory committees” (2026-10-27). stripes.com/veterans/2026-10-27/veterans-advisory-committees
2. Office of Rep. Maggie Goodlander, “Goodlander, Escobar Express Concern for Apparent Lack of Support for VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans” (2026-09-18). goodlander.house.gov/media/press-releases/goodlander-escobar
3. KVIA, “Members of Congress demand info on VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans” (2026-09-17). kvia.com/your-voice-your-vote/2026/09/17/members-of-congress
4. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Center for Women Veterans” (2026-10-29). department.va.gov/center-for-women-veterans/

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.