Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins criticized Democrats on Fox Business Thursday for what he said was fearmongering that, ultimately, hurts veterans.
The VA plans to cut over 80,000 jobs to comply with President Donald Trump’s order to downsize the federal workforce, as revealed in a leaked internal memo. During an appearance on “The Evening Edit,” Collins criticized Democrats over their portrayal of the VA system as failing and for their alarming rhetoric which, he said, unnecessarily scares veterans and VA staff.
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“I’m tired of sitting senators and House members scaring my veterans and scaring my employees. Nobody bothered to ask them ‘Well, how do you see that happening? Why would it be?’ Because in the last 10 years the GAO has actually said that VA health care has been on the high-risk list, susceptible to fraud, waste and abuse and to low-quality care,” Collins said. “In 10 years, all the committee on the Hill did was actually just add money and add people, and we got worse results.”
Collins then cited an instance involving Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“Senator Schumer there, in that part, made my case completely and that’s what we’re having here at the VA. When we actually look at contracts and we look at personnel and we make efficiencies here at the VA. He said if that is in the program and it doesn’t go to care it needs to be cut,” Collins told host Elizabeth MacDonald. “If we’re not taking care of veterans in our care and benefits then we don’t need it at the VA. We need to redirect funds to where it needs to go.”
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MacDonald then mentioned the layoffs. Collins said that the positions affected by the layoffs are “non-forward-facing” and not critical to direct patient care or disability benefits.
“The numbers have been laid off from a probationary standpoint or one half of one percent of our payroll. One half of one percent, and they were all non-forward facing jobs that are not critical to our patient care or benefits and disability assignments,” Collins said.
Collins also discussed the judicial ruling mandating the rehiring of these probationary employees.
“We just started about what the judge is ruling. I’m sure there’s going to be more legal consequences, appeals and stuff there, and we’ll just go forward. But I will say this. We need to make sure we’re focused on doing what we need to do to make sure that the veteran is put back first at the VA,” Collins said.
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In early February, Collins said that DOGE representatives are committed to reducing waste without impacting veteran benefits. The VA faced criticism for prolonged wait times and poor quality care, with its claims backlog increasing from fewer than 100,000 before 2019 to over 250,000 in 2025.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
