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Democrats on Thursday denounced the Trump administration’s move to reduce the Bureau of Veterans Affairs and called for more transparency from leaders after the Propoblica investigation revealed widespread disruption across the agency’s health system.
“There are real and dangerous consequences for veterans,” said Rep. Chris Delugio of Pennsylvania, citing the work of news organizations.
This week, Propublica reported dozens of emails sent to head offices from staff at VA hospitals and clinics across the country that could undermine the agency’s ability to provide the roughly 9 million veterans that rely on it.
An internal VA email reveals how Trump puts veteran care at risk.
The freeze from the White House and other dict orders have left healthcare providers scrambling and shortages amid a constantly changing set of policy moves, including cancellations of contracts with businesses that maintain cancer registrations, the email said. Staff at the VA Center in Pennsylvania warned that the cuts were causing “severe and immediate effects,” including “life-saving cancer trials.”
“Clinical trial registrations have been suspended.” “This means veterans lose access to treatment.” Hospital staff warned that more than 1,000 veterans will lose access to treatment for diseases ranging from metastatic head and neck cancer to kidney disease and traumatic brain injury.
On Thursday, the veteran House member demands leadership from the VA and provides details on how the cuts are affecting such jobs.
“We all want to reduce waste, fraud and abuse, but what we’re seeing today is when we cancel a contract, which means the end of a clinical trial that saves someone else’s life,” said Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire.
In particular, Deluzio, a veteran of the Iraq War, whose Pittsburgh area includes a VA facility, said he first learned about the impact from a Propublica report. On Thursday, they accused Stonewalls of trying to find out which positions have been fired, which contracts have been cancelled, and what future cuts will look like.
“We want the country to understand that this administration hides what they’re doing not only from us and Congress, but from veterans and Americans,” Delugio said.
“And the worst part is, I don’t know if anyone’s dead or not,” he added.
President Donald Trump has long said that his administration prioritizes veterans and will not compromise on their care.
The turmoil in Virginia is just a few of the employees who said they would eventually remove it, despite the department firing thousands of staff. Collins said the agency is developing Elon Musk’s government efficiency plan to cut at least 70,000 employees. The number he emphasized is “goals.” “There may be more possibilities and less,” he told lawmakers this week.
In a post on X on Thursday, Collins pushed back criticism, calling Propublica’s report “misleading,” and said he would “quickly identify and fix issues across the department based on some outdated reports from the internal systems used by the VA.”
In a statement, VA Press Director Pete Casperowitz said Collins has been working to fix the “broken bureaucracy” that has long been problematic with patient safety and access to care. “Unfortunately, the media, government union bosses and some of the Congress are fighting to maintain the broken status quo,” he said. “Our message to veterans is simple: despite major opposition from people who don’t want to change things in Virginia, we will reform the department to improve it for veterans, families, caregivers and survivors.”
Kasperowicz previously told news organizations that the Pennsylvania problem had been resolved, but locals with knowledge of the issue said that it was not and that the impact was ongoing. Kasperowicz also said that the contract to maintain cancer registration “will not affect patients.” He added that the VA is moving to create a national contract to manage them.
According to some providers, even temporary disruptions have hurt the care of veterans. One clinical trial to treat veterans with opioid addiction was hampered by temporary layoffs. “We couldn’t give veterans the tools that could save lives,” said Ellie Gordon, CEO of Startup Action. It tests biosensors to alert veterans of the risk of recurrence.
Collins promoted the cuts at occasional concentric hearings Tuesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
“We will phase out non-mission essential roles like interior designers and DEI executives while maintaining the work of VA’s mission essentials, such as doctors, nurses and claims processors,” he said in his opening statement. The saved funds will be rerouted to the direct health care and benefits of veterans, he added.
Some Republicans at the hearing defended the administration’s proposed cuts. “The VA has become a bloated bureaucratic system,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who represents Alabama. “I think most of us would agree.”
But D-Conn. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of the group pushed back Collins’ statement and said that firing such a large portion of staff would inevitably involve letting go of healthcare workers like nurses and doctors. “We cannot reduce our VA and throw it in the trash bin without eliminating important positions that provide healthcare access and availability,” he said. “That simply can’t be done.”
Others at the hearing took Collins to appoint him for lack of transparency. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, warned the Secretary of refusing to provide a list of 538 cancelled contracts since his appointment. Collins said he would provide information, but that’s only after it’s confirmed.
“We’re looking at every step we can, but we’re not going to play it in public,” he said.
J. David McWan contributed the report.
