There are few issues where the American people agree more than caring for our nation's veterans. But that doesn't mean the agency that provides that care is exempt from efforts to make government, in general, leaner and more efficient. In an interview Friday with the Fox News show "Fox & Friends," Veterans Administration Secretary Doug Collins hit back at critics of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and their auditing of VA operations. Mr. Collins stated that there would be no reduction in the level of care for veterans, calling the claims to the contrary "fake news."
Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins clapped back at critics he accused of circulating "fake news" about the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts inordinately affecting veterans’ care.
Collins, who remains an active colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, announced his agency is opening what will be a fourth new VA clinic in the few months he has been in office.
"As government union bosses, the legacy media and some in Congress have been spreading false rumors of health care and benefits cuts at VA, we’ve opened multiple brand-new clinics that will serve tens of thousands of veterans," Collins said in a statement.
"Don’t believe the fake news."
Full disclosure: My wife, a 100 percent disabled veteran, depends on the VA for nearly all of her healthcare issues. There is a VA clinic in Wasilla for most issues, while her specialty care for her heart condition is managed by a specialty cardiologist in Anchorage and another in Seattle - all on contract with the VA. She's very satisfied with the way things are.
The VA is in fact, according to Secretary Collins, opening new clinics.
On Friday, the VA opened a new clinic in Hamilton, Montana, marking the fourth such ribbon-cutting since President Donald Trump took office just under two months ago.
Previously, Collins oversaw the establishment of a new clinic in fast-growing Spotsylvania, Virginia, – between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia, – as well as in Aurora, Colorado, and Ridgewood, Queens, in New York City.
A Montana VA official told Montana Public Radio last week that Collins had been clear that there would be "no cuts" to services despite DOGE attempting to take an ax to the bureaucracy – and with it many VA employees.
The 8,000-square-foot facility is 600% larger than a prior, now-defunct clinic in the area.
As with most federal agencies, there is bound to be bloat at the VA, but it remains to be seen if any of that is at the care provision level. Elimination of unnecessary programs and redirecting some of those funds to other, more vital healthcare areas will resolve a lot of the bloat.
SEE ALSO: Trump’s VA Just Crushed the Trans Agenda – Redirects Funds to Disabled Veterans
There will be staff reductions:
Collins said Trump set a goal for reduction-in-force, and that Democrats do not understand that the projected staff figures are part of a "deliberative process that's going to take some time."
"That's going to include career VA employees. It's going to include senior executives," he said.
The "take some time" comment makes one wonder if the goal is for this to be handled by attrition, rather than laying off the staffers in question, but specifics have not yet been released.
The federal government has, since about 1860, steadily increased in size and scope, far beyond its constitutional boundaries. But, even as maintaining our armed forces is part of Washington's constitutional role, to protect the liberty and property of the citizens, so too is caring for the veterans of those armed forces. Most especially those who have been injured in the course of their service. There is, almost certainly, bloat that can be cut out of the VA, but the opening of new clinics around the country suggests that, so far, the VA and the DOGE both have that priority straight.
Elon Musk and DOGE are bringing much-needed accountability to our out-of-control bureaucracy as they take a chainsaw to rampant waste, fraud, and abuse.
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