WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said their Department is looking at cutting about 80-thousand employees. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D- NY) is worried that the mass firings to the Department will hurt veterans.
The Trump administration has set out to slash government spending and the workforce across many departments. They initially began dismissing about 24-hundred VA employees in February. For years, the VA has struggled with long wait times, delayed care and more with the Department. Secretary Collins is defending their stance at looking at the roughly 80-thousand cuts. In one interview, he said there will be no cuts to healthcare or benefits for veterans, but Senator Gillibrand said VAs across America are already chronically understaffed and the cuts could hurt veterans.
“The VA did not suffer from fat being in their budget,” said Sen. Gillibrand. “The VA never suffered from having waste in their budget. The VA has suffered from having chronically too few resources and too few staff and too few specialists. And so again, Elon Musk knows nothing about the VA. He certainly didn’t serve, he doesn’t know and neither does President Trump.”
We reached out to the VA for comment but have not heard back yet. It’s unclear if or when the Department could make those additional cuts.
