Rep. Seth Moulton criticized the Trump administration’s handling of health coverage for veterans, which he describes as a “chronic problem” in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“What we’re worried about is that the Trump administration will try to micromanage the VA out of existence, because that’s been their agenda all along; to privatize the VA, to push all VA patients into the private healthcare sector — which is not what veterans want,” Moulton said during an interview with Boston Public Radio Tuesday. “It won’t get veterans the specialized care that they need, and it will hurt everybody else because wait times for everybody will go up with hundreds of thousands of new patients.”

During his nomination hearings, VA Secretary and Trump appointee Robert Wilke said he opposes privatization and would keep the Veterans Health Administration fully funded.

“I think that he, like other VA secretaries before him, will oppose these efforts,” Moulton said. “But nonetheless, the trump administration already has a history of trying to undermine VA secretaries.”

Moulton referenced former Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin who was fired, claiming that he was pushed out because he resisted efforts to privatize VA health care, even though he has bipartisan support in congress.

“Our concern is that the Trump administration will keep on this agenda, which ultimately hurts veterans and prevents them from getting the care that they need,” Moulton said.

Moulton, a member on the House Armed Services Committee and a veteran who served four tours in Iraq, has been an outspoken critic of Wilke.

“We just haven’t seen much,” he said. “I think sometimes this is a question of who would go there instead, and given some of the other nominees that the Trump administration proposed, most of us feel that maybe this is the best we can get.”

“But the proof will be in how much he accomplishes,” he continued, “and whether or not he’s actually able to fix these problems.”

Moulton also criticized Trump’s new Space Force defense program, a proposed sixth branch of government that would focus on military matters outside planet Earth.

“The commander in chief of our country right now dodged the draft five times to avoid serving in the Vietnam war,” Moulton said, “but maybe if he could have been a space cadet he would have signed up.”

To hear the full interview, click on the audio link above.