Arlington, VA: Darin Selnick, Peter O'Rourke, Camilo Sandoval, and Reed Rubinstein, along with other key Trump Administration leaders and officials, today announced the launch of the nonprofit Veterans 4 America First (V4AF) Institute. V4AF Institute will provide public education and grassroots engagement, government oversight, and public policy research and advocacy all focused on putting Veterans and America First.
Focus areas include protecting and expanding the Trump Administration's VA healthcare reforms; economic opportunity; protecting Veterans' legal rights, including under the First and Second Amendments; effective management of and accountability at the VA and DOD; and a strong military, with a focus on the impact of VA and DOD political policy making on our military's readiness and war-fighting capabilities.
Peter O'Rourke, V4AF Institute President and former Acting VA Secretary, said "V4AF Institute's mission to is protect our veterans and our military through America First policy solutions and research, and through oversight of the VA and DOD so that our Veterans and the public know what the government is up to. Our Veterans put their lives on the line for our freedom. They bear the burden of bureaucratic mismanagement and political ineptitude. And V4AF Institute will be sure their voices are heard."
V4AF Institute founding member Darin Selnick, a former Senior Advisor to the VA and the White House Domestic Policy Council, said "The Trump Administration ushered the greatest improvement to veteran health and the Department of Veteran Affairs since World War II, in part because President Trump gave veterans the first real, permanent choice of using private healthcare providers and held employees accountable."
The team behind V4AF Institute includes senior administration officials who served in the White House, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Justice, and Department of Defense. Other V4AF Institute founding members include Camilo Sandoval who served as the White House Federal Chief Information Security Officer, was the Acting Chief Information Officer and Senior Advisor for the VA, and the Senior White House Advisor for the Department of the Treasury Presidential Transition Team during the first 100 days of the Trump Administration, and Reed Rubinstein, former Deputy Associate Attorney General, General Counsel (delegated) for the U.S. Department of Education, and attorney for the victims and survivors of the Fort Hood terror attack.
Contact: Amber Smith
Veterans 4 America First Institute
amber@vets4americafirst.org