During a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) spoke about VA Secretary Doug Collins discussing his plans to fire 15% of the department's workforce.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Okay, thank you. Senator Blumenthal.
00:02Secretary Collins, you've just told
00:05Senator Banks that you're going to give us the information that you have.
00:09You have failed to give us the information that you should have,
00:13or you do have, and you're declining to provide it.
00:17The numbers of specific categories of people whom you plan to fire,
00:27the contracts that you have canceled or that you plan to cancel,
00:33I'm going to ask you to provide that information in written form.
00:37I'm not going to get into an argument with you here,
00:40but just so you understand,
00:44I think that a good portion of the questions that you've been asked,
00:48frankly, you just haven't answered,
00:51and I'm hoping that you will provide those answers.
00:53Let me tell you one fact that I think we do know,
00:58and that is that your goal is to fire 15% of the VA workforce.
01:05You've said it again and again and again.
01:08I'm going to ask that a list of your quotes be put into the record,
01:13most recently to the Arizona Public Media AZPM on May 1,
01:20that, quote, I said there was a goal of 15%,
01:27which if you do the math is about 80,000.
01:32What I take away is you've got a goal of slashing 15% of the workforce,
01:40come hell or high water,
01:42and you're going to figure out whom to fire as you go along.
01:48And that means frontline people who have been hired among those 50 or 80,000 people.
01:54And I have a list right here, which I'm also going to ask the editor in the record.
01:59They're numbers. They're real people.
02:01We're talking about, for example, 18,000 registered nurses and 5,000 social workers.
02:11Those are increases of 20 and 25%.
02:14Those are frontline people who've been hired.
02:17The total number is a approximately 17% increase in the VA workforce.
02:25They are schedulers, physicians, police, psychologists, registered nurses, social workers, and 31% of them are VBA.
02:35You fire those people.
02:38Your goal is to fire 15% of the total workforce.
02:42They're among them.
02:43You're going to lose quality.
02:44You're going to lose time.
02:46There's no way around it.
02:47Now, I welcome your commitment that the savings you just told Senator Banks will go into care for our veterans,
02:56but that's not what you said on April 17th.
03:03You said that, quote, that'll be up to the president.
03:09Now, I don't know which is true, but I hope that the savings will go into caring for veterans.
03:18But is that your commitment now?
03:21I think, one, I would not see the context of that quote and where it was actually put.
03:25I think the issue here is today is, look, Senator, I think this is where we got.
03:29It's not right to stand here today because I actually think there was a quote from others, and I won't say you particularly, but there's been others.
03:39It says, we're going to take 15% of doctors, 15% of nurses, 15% of mental.
03:43That's just wrong.
03:44It's almost cruel.
03:46It would be cruel.
03:48It would be cruel if it happened.
03:50It's not happening.
03:51By even repeating it, though, you're letting my workforce know which we're going through the process.
03:56If you were going to reorganize your office, would you just stand up at a staff meeting today and say, here's the 16 people we're discussing right now.
04:02These are your words.
04:03These are your words.
04:05In Tucson on April 30th.
04:07Okay.
04:08In KOLD News, April 28th.
04:11Script News, April 21.
04:13Spectrum, local news, April 9th.
04:16Detroit Free Press, April 1.
04:19Collins told the veterans that cutting 80,000 people from the department is a goal.
04:24On April 9th, first off, 15% is a goal.
04:28Let me just go on, because the record is there.
04:31It is.
04:32Nobody's denying you, Senator.
04:33I'm not sure the point you're trying to make, because I have said it is a goal, but I've also said it may not actually get to that number.
04:39It is what the process we're going through, and I'm not going to work out a process in front of a committee or anywhere else in which we're still in the deliberative process, because at the end of the day, with 470,000...
04:50The goal is a dodge goal.
04:54That is malpractice for me to do that in front of a committee.
04:56I'm not going to to scare people, but I've also made the commitment that we're going to make sure that our healthcare is provided for, that our people are getting their disability benefits, and what we're seeing right now, whether you agree with the numbers or not, those failed when we added billions of dollars and thousands of employees.
05:11That's the part we can't get away from, and I'm willing to work with you in any way to do that.
05:16You responded to Senator Sullivan's question about capping certain attorney's fees for the Camp Lejeune victims.
05:25Are you aware of the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act that Senator Tillis and I have offered to put caps on attorney's fees?
05:37No, but it should have come a long time ago. I don't know what took so long.
05:40Well, will you support our legislation?
05:42I haven't seen the legislation, sir. I don't comment on things I've not read.
05:45Well, instead of just putting out a scam...
05:47Why isn't Senator Sullivan on it?
05:50Instead of putting...
05:51I'm just curious. Why wouldn't Senator Sullivan be on that bill?
05:54You know what?
05:56I'm just curious, because it would help me out, because we've actually seen this probably pour out, and I'm not going to let the veterans be duped into paying 70%.
06:04I don't. Maybe you can talk to Senator Sullivan, and he'll join the bill. But I'm asking for your support.
06:11Please, I will take a look at your bill and see what we can...
06:14You're not aware of it? Excuse me?
06:16You're doing a scam alert. I would suggest that maybe the way to really help veterans is to support legislation with caps on it.
06:25Are you denying that this is happening? Because if not, I mean, I have...
06:29The reason...
06:30You're asking to support a bill that I've never read, sir, and that's just not fair.
06:33I'm going to take a little more time, because he seems to feel that he's asking the questions here.
06:40Well, I'm...
06:41But I'm happy to continue the conversation on this point.
06:44Senator Blumenthal, let me see if I can sum this up. I think the Secretary has said he will take a look at the bill.
06:47Yes.
06:48And it's a bill that you don't know anything about, so you can't say whether you're for it.
06:51And Senator Blumenthal is happy to have your support after you look at it.
06:54Correct.
06:55Well said, Mr. Chairman.
06:58Let me ask you, Secretary Collins, I just have a couple of quick questions for you.
07:05Will you commit to provide privacy for telehealth professionals doing mental health care?
07:12We have already done that, sir, anything on our return to work policy.
07:15If they're actually put in a position where they do not have privacy, it's against the policy of return to work.
07:20Do you deny the accuracy of the New York Times reporting?
07:23Oh, very much so, and I'll be happy to provide you everything.
07:26They were contacted.
07:27Everything that we...
07:28What it showed was is that our systems were working, and when anything that they actually reported...
07:32By the way, we asked for veterans where care had been affected by that.
07:37They could not produce a single one.
07:38In fact, the New York Times even produced, of overworked, crowded conditions, they sent our press people to empty rooms.
07:44So, yes, I do deny it.
07:46You deny it.
07:47Will you provide us a factual refutation of it, not just...
07:52We can, and we also did it.
07:54I think we're actually putting that out on social media today.
07:56So, yes, we go line by line.
07:58I take every one of these seriously, sir.
08:00I take every one of them seriously.
08:02ProPublica, you mentioned it earlier, the New York Times, and yet we answer them one by one by one.
08:07And I have the email chains with the reporters that they choose to ignore.
08:12Anyone...
08:13That's what we get.
08:14Um...
08:17Well, I welcome that you are committed to providing privacy and that you will provide a line-by-line refutation of the New York Times.
08:27Will you do the same with ProPublica?
08:29We have that as well.
08:31Let me ask you, have research contracts been canceled or frozen?
08:39Research contracts are right now under the...
08:42The ones that are continuing are still continuing.
08:44If they were run out, then we're on a nine-day pause to see if where they need to be continued or not.
08:49Is that a yes?
08:51I mean, I can't answer your question any better than that.
08:54The continuing national contracts are happening right now.
08:56Research...
08:57There was some, by the way, as you well know, that they do run out at a three-year cycle.
09:01We've actually held on to it right now.
09:02So you haven't canceled any?
09:03No, not at this point, no.
09:05Not that I'm aware of in that situation.
09:07If you want to provide something, we'll be happy to look at it.
09:09Have you frozen any?
09:11In other words, before the expiration of the three years?
09:14That I would have to look at.
09:16I don't believe so.
09:17Because that's one of the reasons why we put the 90-day pause in.
09:20Mr. Secretary, is Medicaid important to veterans?
09:25Give me the context, Senator.
09:30I mean, it's important for anyone.
09:32Do veterans take advantage of the Medicaid program?
09:35That's a conversation that's been going on for a while now concerning the Medicaid Advantage plans
09:40and the ones that are in the discussion.
09:42No, I'm talking about Medicaid, not Medicare Advantage.
09:45Okay, I'm sorry.
09:47I have to, I mean, I'm not sure where we're going with this.
09:50You don't know whether veterans use Medicaid?
09:53You're not aware of that fact?
09:54Yes.
09:55I mean, I understand the Medicaid process.
09:58I'm not sure what your question is.
10:00Well, my question is, is Medicaid important to veterans?
10:04It's important to everyone who uses it.
10:06Okay.
10:07Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
10:11Senator Rubin-Full, thank you.
10:13Just a couple of wrap-ups from me, Mr. Secretary.
10:16I'm sorry, Mr. Secretary, I would love the 그럼-