President Trump has made it clear where veterans stand in his administration, and that is first. His overhaul of Veterans’ benefits and VA healthcare highlights the United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ commitment to prioritizing veterans.
On Monday, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins told Newsmax that under President Trump’s administration, “veterans are first at the VA.” That day, an additional 1,400 “non-mission-critical” probationary workers were dismissed from the VA, which prompted backlash and concerns that the administration would not be able to provide adequate care, but this is far from the case.
In a press release video, Collins addressed these layoffs and reassured those concerned that 300,000 mission-critical positions were safeguarded to ensure uninterrupted services.
Additional rumors were made that benefits were also going to be cut, but Collins shut down the false talk by explaining that the VA had simply redirected around $98 million toward veterans’ care and benefits. Collins told Newsmax that they’re taking a very different approach to fixing VA benefits and services from Biden’s administration, saying, “Their idea of government was to throw money and people at any problem.”
This old way of solving problems just increases the wastage of government funds. Collins told Newsmax, “We saw that really didn’t work in education. We saw it didn’t work in a lot of places. And frankly, it doesn’t work in many of the business lines that we have up here, from health to benefits to even our cemeteries.” Collins explains that to make sure veterans receive their benefits, the VA has to be more efficient, and they have already been.
In a press release video, Collin reflected on the VA’s accomplishments in the first 30 days of President Trump’s administration, which prioritized veterans. By eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the VA can reallocate $14 million for health care and caregiver programs and $178,000 that was previously allocated for Politico newsletters was also reallocated.
Under President Trump’s administration, Collins emphasized that the “focus here is using all the resources that I can to make sure our veterans are first at the VA.”