Veterans Administration will cut 80,000 jobs
‘Get used to it,’ the VA chief says, because changes will be made
By Mike Sorrell
With the finesse of a drill sergeant, the head of the Veteran Administration said Wednesday, “We’ll be making major changes, so get used to it now.”
Eighty thousand VA jobs will be cut by the end of the summer, The Washington Post reports.
Doug Collins, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, made his get-used-to-it comment in a video posted on social media. He also said the cuts will not impact the health care veterans receive or the benefits for veterans or beneficiaries. Of course not. Tell that to a military veteran and hear what he or she has to say.
VA employees learned of the cuts Wednesday in a memo from Collins’s chief of staff, Christopher D. Syrek. The memo said the VA will work with Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team.
Millions of people turn to the VA for health care and for the benefits for which they were entitled, and there is a steady stream of new applicants who include veterans from recent wars, as well as veterans from the Vietnam War, which ended 50 years ago. There are also Korean War veterans.
The agency has 400,000 employees.
Secretary Collins, 58, is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who lost a Senate race last year. He has been a Navy and Air Force chaplain and remains a colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
When President Trump nominated Collins for VA secretary a couple of months ago, he said Collins “would be a great advocate for active-duty service members, veterans and military families to ensure they have the support they need,” according to military.com
“We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform," Trump said. "Thank you, Doug, for your willingness to serve our country in this important role.”
Now along comes Musk, an unelected native of South Africa who Trump allows to hack great chunks out of federal agencies.
The news about the VA comes a few days after a conversation I had with a Vietnam veteran. He said he recently went through the process of qualifying and receiving benefits through the VA. He he went to a VA center in a city about 70 miles north of our small town.
“They are terrific up there,” he said.
Every five or 10 years since the war, he had sought help from the VA. He was told they had nothing for him. This time, at the age of 70, the experience was different.
“The VA is much better than it used to be. They gave me a full physical – and mental – exam.”
He was diagnosed with hearing loss, post-traumatic stress disorder, diabetes and high blood pressure.”
“They loaded me up with several months of prescriptions and told me I have disabilities that entitle me to a monthly disability check. It’s not much, but the money will help. Those guys are great.”
I’m glad he got his foot in the door before Trump and Musk chose to reduce services for veterans so that Trump and the Republican Congress can give tax breaks to billionaires.