Van Orden to VA Secretary Doug Collins: “So when we are going to cut the VA? And I hope you do, sir”
New reporting from Raw Story reveals that during a Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing on Thursday, Derrick Van Orden “called for the Trump administration to implement cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
While questioning VA Secretary Doug Collins, Van Orden said, “So when we are going to cut the VA? And I hope you do, sir” – telling Wisconsin veterans as directly as possible that he can’t be trusted to protect their health care.
Refusing to stand up to DOGE firings of veterans and VA employees, threatening a fired veteran employee, and now requesting more cuts to the VA… Derrick Van Orden’s behavior makes it clear he is not working for Wisconsin veterans.
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Raw Story: Outrage as MAGA Republican threatens agency long thought untouchable
- Democrats hit out at Derrick Van Orden after the Wisconsin Republican representative called for the Trump administration to implement cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- “So when are we going to cut the VA?” Van Orden asked at a U.S. House hearing on Thursday.
- “Derrick Van Orden isn’t even trying to hide it – he wants to cut the VA,” Katie Smith, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Raw Story on Friday.
- “Van Orden’s dangerous agenda is a direct threat to Wisconsin veterans and their access to quality healthcare.”
- Representatives for Van Orden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- “So when we are going to cut the VA?” Van Orden said. “And I hope you do, sir.”
- Since President Donald Trump’s return to power in January, the administration has imposed severe cuts on federal departments.
- Particularly as implemented by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, such cuts have proved increasingly unpopular.
- DOGE is seeking around 15 percent staff cuts at the VA.
- This month, a survey by Mission Roll Call, a nonprofit, showed 44 percent of veterans describing themselves as “very concerned” and 20 percent “concerned” over such planned cuts.
- NPR reported that department data showed almost 11,300 VA employees had applied for a deferred resignation deal.
- “The top positions across all networks that are requesting deferred resignation are nurses (about 1,300), medical support assistants (about 800) and social workers (about 300),” NPR said.
