🏥 Report: VA Secretary Collins Is “Gutting” Veterans Care

A new piece in The American Prospect lays out a sharp warning: VA Secretary Doug Collins is quietly dismantling the VA from the inside, pushing policies that strip out services, cut staffing, and shift care into the private sector.

The article ties together a series of decisions under Collins and Trump that point to a long-term plan to shrink and privatize the VA, including:

• Community care referrals being fast-tracked to private providers
• Layoffs and hiring freezes across key departments
• A renewed push to re-fire employees who previously won reinstatement
• Cancellation of collective bargaining rights at multiple facilities

It paints a picture of a VA where the goal is to push veterans out the door—not to strengthen in-house care, but to make the system so limited or delayed that outside care seems like the only option.

📣 What this means for us:

These aren’t just administrative shifts. They’re direct threats to both veteran care and federal union jobs. The more the VA outsources, the fewer stable, union-protected positions remain—and the more vulnerable veterans are to delays, denials, and profiteering.

AFGE has called out the pattern. And with the VA’s staffing cuts and reorganization plans still moving, it’s clear that this is far from over.

📎 Read the full article at The American Prospect

VA Secretary Collins: Indifferent to Public’s and Congressional Opposition to His Gutting Veterans’ Care – The American Prospect

In congressional testimony, he refused to take responsibility for his drastic downsizing.

prospect.org