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.”
VA SEC ACCUSES REPORTER OF SPREADING RUMORS ABOUT DOGE HURTING VETERANS
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.
Meanwhile, the new Spotsylvania facility is primed to be the largest of its kind in the country, according to Fredericksburg-area media.
An estimated 35,000 patients can be seen each year at the new site, located where Interstate 95 and US-1 diverge just south of the city.
While the VA is primed to cut 15% of its workforce via DOGE’s efforts – from 471,000 to 398,000 – Collins reiterated to Fox News that there will be no interruption or decline in services or care quality.
Collins responded to a warning from Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who said that such cuts would hurt service to veterans and that the thought it is a “bad idea” should be a “bipartisan” admonition.
Citing the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the secretary said all parties should at least agree that the VA has seen its services at “high risk” for waste, fraud, abuse and insufficient care.
“I’ve been here four weeks, but it’s interesting that there’s no solutions being proposed,” Collins told “Fox & Friends” last week.
“President Trump brought generational change to DC. And he’s saying let’s look at everything. So what we’re looking at is, if our system is on a high risk list, if we’ve had issues and all that the government has decided to do lately has put money or people at something, then maybe we need to ask the better question — are we using our resources wisely and making sure that our department is taking care of the veteran, which is our only responsibility?”
Other liberals have lambasted the administration over proposed cuts to VA staff, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ranking member of the Senate Health Committee.
“They’re going to gut the Department of Veterans Affairs, jeopardizing the health and well-being of millions of veterans,” Sanders recently claimed.
One Democratic veteran in Congress, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, said he regularly visits the VA on a personal level and sees waiting lists and knows how troublesome the process can be.
“All of that is going to get worse,” Moulton told MSNBC.
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.
Collins said the GAO has had the VA on its high-risk list for a decade, but only now are Democrats in Congress “yelling ‘don’t do anything.’”
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Of the layoffs thus far, Collins said the proportion has been less than 1% of the agency’s workforce and has not really affected front-facing personnel.
He also said that $980 million in contract-related spending is being scrutinized in an attempt to instead reinvest it in patient care, as part of DOGE’s work.
Additionally, on Monday, the VA announced it is phasing-out treatment for “gender dysphoria” – which had been supported by the Biden administration.
“Effective immediately, VA will not offer cross-sex hormone therapy to veterans who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria, unless” they are in the midst of receiving such care, the agency said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
