Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in an interview Monday the agency is looking to eliminate 80,000 positions.
Collins said cutting 80,000 jobs is the agency's goal after President Donald Trump's executive order mandating layoffs in all federal agencies. Collins said the agency has not decided which positions to eliminate but said it would be a "deliberative process that's going to take time."
"It's going to include senior executives," Collins said.
In an opinion piece in The Hill last week, Collins said he wanted to cut the VA's workforce by 15%, slashing it from 470,000 employees to 398,000 employees.
"We will accomplish this without making cuts to health care or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries," Collins wrote.
Collins said in the interview that the VA has a liaison with the Department of Government Efficiency, led by tech mogul Elon Musk.
"I think it's really interesting for me to take a look at an organization that's grown rapidly but yet still has issues and still has problems taking care of our veterans," Collins said. "We're going to make sure we're putting the money and resources toward our veterans getting the help they need."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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