A contentious hearing on the Hill for VA secretary

Secretary of VA Doug Collins made his first appearance before the Senate VA committee since his confirmation, following three months of controversial policy announcements at the VA.

The Veterans Affairs department, the second-largest in the U.S. government, is undergoing changes as part of the DOGE initiative to reduce staff by about 15%. Secretary Collins faced questions on Capitol Hill about how this reduction will be implemented without impacting VA health care or benefits.

During the hearing, Collins was grilled by senators on how he plans to cut as many as 83,000 staff without worsening the chronic shortages in frontline health care workers. The contentious exchange saw accusations from Democrats that Collins was making arbitrary cuts to meet goals set by the DOGE initiative, while Collins defended maintaining frontline health care services.

Despite senators pressing for details on who will be fired and how the cuts will be made, Collins mentioned ongoing analysis to determine the reductions. Concerns were raised about the rehiring of staff, including those from the veterans suicide hotline, after initial firings.

The hearing highlighted the uncertainty surrounding the staff reductions and the impact on veterans’ benefits and health care. A recent poll showed that a majority of veterans are worried about how the federal cuts could affect them.