LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins visited the Lexington VA Medical Center on Friday amid growing concerns about potential federal budget cuts that could impact veteran services.
Earlier this week, the Department of Veterans Affairs temporarily suspended billions of dollars in planned contract cuts following concerns that the move would hurt critical veterans’ health services.
The Associated Press looked into the contracts at risk and their reports show the cuts would affect everything from cancer care to the ability to assess toxic exposure.
During his visit to Lexington, Collins said that benefits or services for veterans or VA beneficiaries will not be impacted. He emphasized that VA health care would remain unaffected.
"We're making sure that our veterans are being taken care of and that's what I'm committed to," said Collins.
However, as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, continues to make cuts, some federal employees are concerned about their jobs. LEX 18 brought those concerns up to Collins.
He emphasized that 300,000+ VA jobs are exempt from cuts.
"We have more exemptions than most departments have employees," Collins said.
“Will there be some people let go? Yes. We’ve already had that happen,” Collins added. “But we’ll make sure that what we’re doing is taking the best possible approach and ensuring that veterans are being taken care of—both in our healthcare and in our benefits.”
Reporters asked: what jobs are at risk?
"There's things like interior designers. There's things like stock issues and contracts issues. We're looking heavily in our backroom," said Collins. "We're looking very heavily at our central office."
Collins encouraged workers who are anxious about their jobs to connect with leadership to confirm that their positions are exempt from cuts.
