The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Wisconsin GOP Representative Derrick Van Orden (3rd CD) has achieved notoriety for his social media war with Wisconsin Democratic Representative Mark Pocan (2nd CD). Both of them must cease this immature, destructive distraction. What’s needed is genuine policy discussion and congressional oversight, sorely lacking.
The last eight months of the Trump presidency has been a nightmare. “There will be some 300,000 fewer federal workers on the government payroll by the end of December …” (NYT). The firings and coerced “resignations” have been costly, “upward of $135 billion this fiscal year” (NYT). Entire federal departments and programs have been eviscerated. This is not cutting fraud and waste. It’s national suicide. Don’t avert your eyes.
The Washington Post reported: “Morale is plummeting inside the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as tens of thousands of employees prepare for deep staffing cuts, raising alarms among staffers, veterans and advocates who fear the reductions would severely damage care and benefits for millions of the nation’s former service members.” While public opposition forced the Trump administration to abandon a plan to reduce the VA workforce by 83,000 employees, the damage has been severe.
>> WisPolitics is now on the State Affairs network. Get custom keyword notifications, bill tracking and all WisPolitics content. Get the app or access via desktop.
ProPublica reported: “Veterans hospitals are struggling to replace hundreds of doctors and nurses who have left the (VA) health care system as the Trump administration pursues its pledge to simultaneously slash Department of Veterans Affairs staff and improve care. Many job applicants are turning down offers, worried that the positions are not stable and uneasy with the overall direction of the agency, according to internal documents examined by ProPublica. The records show nearly 4 in 10 of the roughly 2,000 doctors offered jobs from January through March of this year turned them down. That is quadruple the rate of doctors rejecting offers during the same period last year.”
Moreover, the VA Office of Inspector General released a damning report on the increasing shortage of clinical and nonclinical employees throughout the VA system. The Washington Post reported: “Amid this year’s staffing losses, the department (VA) has faced a dramatic drop in job applications.” The MJS reported: “According to the (above) report, Wisconsin’s three VA health care systems – William S. Middleton Veterans’ Memorial, VA Tomah Health Care and Clement J. Zablocki Veterans’ Administration Medical Center – were short a combined 51 clinical positions and 21 nonclinical positions.”
Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin reacted spot-on: “These dedicated folks that serve at the VA are not just leaving out of the blue. The Trump administration is driving them out and it means longer wait times, calls going unanswered and veterans not getting the care they deserve.” However, Van Orden, who serves on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is not calling for meaningful congressional oversight. Van Orden doesn’t ask questions on why so many doctors and nurses don’t want to work at the VA. Moreover, U.S. military veterans are disproportionately from rural areas, including small towns. That’s the 3rd CD, second-highest percent of Wisconsin CD’s military veterans. Van Orden is not doing his job. Veterans deserve much better.
– Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
