Yesterday I saw a video from VA Secretary Doug Collins (former member of Congress from Georgia) bragging about how they were cutting $2 billion worth of what were clearly, in his estimation, worthless and stupid contracts. They were in fact almost one thousand different contracts tied to everything from medical and burial services to cancer prevention and doctor recruiting programs. I’ve posted that video below. This afternoon I received this email from a longtime reader …
I’m a contractor working for a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) for 15 years. I’ve worked on projects with the Veterans Benefit Administration and the Veterans Health Administration. During that time, I’ve run marketing campaigns to get veterans to enroll in healthcare, conducted program evaluations and process improvement efforts, and provided strategic communications support.
I’ve been very proud of my work and the VA mission. But today I’m devastated. My contract was one of more than 800 that were canceled last night. The cancellations were not based on any evaluation. DOGE appears to have simply identified all professional services contracts and canceled them.
The cancellations will not only have a terrible impact on VHA healthcare, it will destroy hundreds of SDVOSBs because a great deal of VA contracts go to SDVOSBs. I don’t know how Republicans in Congress can let this destruction continue when so many of them profess to care deeply about veterans.
This afternoon, VA appears to have reversed course, now saying their going to review and potentially reverse at least some of the cancellations. “Under pressure, VA halts contract cancellations in major reversal” reads the WaPo headline. It goes on: “Records show the 875 contracts at issue included support for medical and burial services, cancer programs, and efforts to recruit doctors for critical vacancies.”
“I don’t have a lot of hope that they’ll reverse many,” the TPM Reader followed up.
Here’s the Collins video.
