Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins has been busy streamlining the agency since the Senate confirmed him Feb. 4, cutting $14 million related to diversity, equity, and inclusion personnel and programs at the agency, and canceling a $178,000 contract with Politico.
Collins told Newsmax on Monday that this "ain't the end of it."
"There's more coming and we're looking for it," the former four-term Republican Georgia representative told "Finnerty" and guest host Bob Brooks. "We're finding it because at the end of the day, my mission is not to support the Washington media establishment. My position is to support the veteran."
The Washington Examiner reported Monday that Collins let go nearly 60 employees who were solely focused on DEI programs, saving more than $8 million a year in salaries and benefits. A VA spokeswoman said the department was spending an average of more than $136,000 a year per employee, and one was making more than $220,000 a year, just $26,000 less than Collins' salary. Further, cuts to DEI-related training, materials, and other consulting services will save about $6.1 million.
"The $14 million in DEI contracts and salaries, that was $8 million in salaries that were not going to help our veterans out [and] contracts to support that," Collins said. "We want to bring every veteran in who's earned that benefit and be a part of it. We're not going to spend it on sidetrack. And then for Politico, folks, there's a free edition they can get every day. Give me a break. We're not going to pay for information that our folks can get on their on their phones every morning."
Collins, who served in the U.S. Navy and Air Force Reserve as a chaplain and deployed to Iraq as a member of the 94th Airlift Wing, said the main point is that the agency will no longer be spending large sums on such divisive initiatives and instead put the focus back on the needs of veterans.
"We're going to look at it this way," he said. "They're not doing it anymore. And no matter what they were doing with it, and to me, you know, again, this diversity, equity, and inclusion stuff is again taking us away from our mission, especially our veterans and others, and it's dividing us.
"We're [going] to be bringing together from all backgrounds, coming together, making sure that meritocracy is back, making sure that hard work is back, making sure our veterans our VA employees know that we're raising the bar. ... There's going to be a lot of changes. There's a lot of things happen when it's new, but believe me, at the end of the day, this is what I believe the American people have been asking for years is a government that is responsive to them."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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