U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins was peppered with questions Tuesday about widespread layoffs at the federal agency during a press conference at the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville.
Collins has said the VA will lay off as many as 80,000 staffers as part of President Donald Trump’s controversial strategy to streamline the federal government. The VA has already laid off 2,400 probationary employees, including 14 or 15 staff members who lost jobs at the Asheville VA hospital. Collins shared that one executive assistant, interior designers, and some stock clerks were among the 14 or 15 staffers let go in Asheville.
Responding to a reporter’s question, Collins said cost-savings from layoffs will be redirected to patient care. “Hundreds of millions of dollars” have already been directed to patient care, he said.
VA Secretary Doug Collins addresses rumors about veterans’ benefits cuts in a recent video filmed in his office. // Photo: US Department of Veterans Affairs
The Iraq War veteran and former Air Force chaplain said news outlets have made his job tougher by contributing misinformation about what is occurring at the VA.
“Health care and benefits are not being cut,” Collins said. “Most of that is statutory and that’s not something we’re going to cut in the sense of what’s being said, but I have people on the outside, even probably out here in the front today saying, ‘you’re cutting benefits.’”
Click here to see a video Collins recorded last month to address concerns about rumored health care and benefits cuts at the VA.
Big planned cuts draw protests
Asheville-area news outlets reported that more than 20 demonstrators gathered outside the Asheville VA to complain about federal budget cuts. Blue Ridge Public Radio reported that some held signs that read: “Trump hates vets” and “Protect our veterans from DOGE.”
DOGE refers to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency led by tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, whom Trump charged with reducing “waste” in the federal government and improving efficiency.
Collins said he spends “most of my time fighting innuendo and rumor.”
“Quit scaring my veterans,” Collins implored. “Quit scaring my employees. We’ve got a lot of change coming and we’re going to work together to have it.”
Collins pushed back on what he said are false claims that VA layoffs will include doctors and nurses.
“That’s not even in our consideration right now,” Collins said. “I need more good doctors; I need more good nurses. I need more of who are taking care of people on the front line.”
Colorado Newsline reported on Tuesday that veterans are already complaining in detail to members of Congress about how VA cuts are already limiting their access to care.
But Collins claimed the agency will mostly make cuts at the “bureaucracy layer” that runs from VA doctors to the agency’s central office in Washington. The agency, for example, will look at federal contracts for cuts, he said.
“By the way, 2 percent was all we looked at so far in contracts and we found monies that came from; we were paying people to write PowerPoints for us and meeting notes,” Collins said. “That doesn’t help my doctors. That doesn’t help them do what they’re supposed to do.”
The secretary was also critical of media reports about long waits for care at VA and canceled surgeries. The folks complaining are the ones most resistant to change, he said.
“I’m going to challenge anybody that you can’t tell me that the things are bad, and 60 percent of the calls to congressional offices are saying we need help getting to VA benefits or getting their help and then tell me we can’t change anything.”
Much of the criticism and pushback being directed at Collins, however, has come from Trump allies. Politico reported last week that Republican members of Congress have made a “flurry of panicked calls” to the agency as details of planned cuts have emerged.
The report quoted Senate Veterans’ Affairs Chair Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) as saying efforts to downsize “must be done in a more responsible manner,” and that planned cuts must be “justifiable.”
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Politico, “Maybe you’ve got a good reason to do it. I like Doug Collins — he’s a great guy. But we don’t need to be reading memos in the paper about 20 percent cut at the VA.”
Collins spoke extensively about veterans’ suicide, contending that the nation spends more than $588 million a year to prevent suicides among veterans each year but the numbers remain the same.
“We got great people doing great things with our suicide prevention but is there better ways to do it?” Collins asked. “We’re spending $588 million on prevention and we’re staying between 17 and 40 [veteran suicides per day], depending on what numbers you want to look at. I don’t accept that as a veteran. I want to find better ways.”
According to the 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report, which analyzed data from 2001 to 2022, there were 6,407 suicides among veterans in 2022 compared to 41,484 among non-veteran U.S. adults. There were on average 131.2 adult suicides per day, with 17.6 veteran suicides per day, according to the report. The VA’s data show 209 veteran suicides in North Carolina in 2022.
Collins called the Asheville VA Medical Center a “family community that is working.” He pledged to take what’s working there and at other successful centers to replicate across the country.
“When you get as large as we are, it’s always good to see folks doing it well,” Collins said. “That also doesn’t mean we can’t do it better. I think that’s one of the things I’m emphasizing as I move forward. How do we take the things that are good here in places like Asheville in Western North Carolina and make that something we can model elsewhere in the country?”
NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Investigative Reporter Greg Childress covers issues related to poverty, homelessness, and housing policy.This article is republished here with permission.
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SUMMARY: Donald van der Vaart, a former North Carolina environmental secretary and climate skeptic, has been appointed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission by Republican Treasurer Brad Briner. Van der Vaart, who previously supported offshore drilling and fracking, would oversee the state’s transition to renewable energy while regulating utility services. His appointment, which requires approval from the state House and Senate, has drawn opposition from environmental groups. Critics argue that his views contradict clean energy progress. The appointment follows a controversial bill passed by the legislature, granting the treasurer appointment power to the commission.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-30 14:47:00
(The Center Square) – Called “crypto-friendly legislation” by the leader of the chamber, a proposal on digital assets on Wednesday afternoon passed the North Carolina House of Representatives.
Passage was 71-44 mostly along party lines.
The NC Digital Assets Investments Act, known also as House Bill 92, has investment requirements, caps and management, and clear definitions and standards aimed at making sure only qualified digital assets are included. House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said the state would potentially join more than a dozen others with “crypto-friendly legislation.”
With him in sponsorship are Reps. Stephen Ross, R-Alamance, Mark Brody, R-Union, and Mike Schietzelt, R-Wake.
Nationally last year, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act – known as FIT21 – passed through the U.S. House in May and in September was parked in the Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
Dan Spuller, cochairman of the North Carolina Blockchain Initiative, said the state has proven a leader on digital asset policy. That includes the Money Transmitters Act of 2016, the North Carolina Regulatory Sandbox Act of 2021, and last year’s No Centrl Bank Digital Currency Pmts to State. The latter was strongly opposed by Gov. Roy Cooper, so much so that passage votes of 109-4 in the House and 39-5 in the Senate slipped back to override votes, respectively, of 73-41 and 27-17.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article presents a factual report on the passage of the NC Digital Assets Investments Act, highlighting the legislative process, party-line votes, and related legislative measures. It does not adopt a clear ideological stance or frame the legislation in a way that suggests bias. Instead, it provides neutral information on the bill, its sponsors, and relevant background on state legislative activity in digital asset policy. The tone and language remain objective, focusing on legislative facts rather than promoting a particular viewpoint.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-30 11:04:00
(The Center Square) – Hurricane Helene recovery in North Carolina is being impacted by a federal agency with seven consecutive failed audits and the elimination of hundreds of its workers in the state.
Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined a lawsuit on behalf of the state with 23 other states and the District of Columbia against AmeriCorps, known also as the Corporation for National and Community Service. The state’s top prosecutor says eight of 19 AmeriCorps programs and 202 jobs are being lost in the state by the cuts to the federal program.
Jeff Jackson, North Carolina attorney general
NCDOJ.gov
The litigation says responsibility lies with the Department of Government Efficiency established by President Donald Trump.
“These funds – which Congress already appropriated for North Carolina – are creating jobs, cleaning up storm damage, and helping families rebuild,” Jackson said. “AmeriCorps must follow the law so that people in western North Carolina can confidently move forward.”
Jackson, in a release, said 50 of the 750 volunteers terminated on April 15 were in North Carolina. Three programs with 84 people employed were impacted on Friday when AmeriCorps cut federal funds to grant programs that run through the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service.
Project MARS was helping in 18 western counties, providing supplies and meals to homebound and stranded families. Clothing, crisis hotlines and school supports were also aided. Project Conserve was in 25 western counties helping with debris removal, tree replanting, storm-system repairs and rain-barrel distribution. Project POWER helped large-scale food donations for more than 10,000 people in the hard-hit counties of Buncombe, Henderson and Madison.
The White House has defended its accountability actions and did so on this move. AmeriCorps has a budget of about $1 billion.
Helene killed 107 in North Carolina and caused an estimated $60 billion damage.
The storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Dekle Beach, Fla., on Sept. 26. It dissipated over the mountains of the state and Tennessee, dropping more than 30 inches in some places and over 24 consistently across more.
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said last year AmeriCorps has a legacy of “incompetence and total disregard for taxpayer money.” She was chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, which requested the report showing repeated failed audits and financial management troubles.
“AmeriCorps,” Foxx said, “receives an astounding $1 billion in taxpayer funds every year but hasn’t received a clean audit for the past seven years. As instances of fraud continue, the agency has proven time and time again incapable of reforming itself and should never be given another opportunity to abuse taxpayer dollars.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The article presents an ideological stance that leans toward the right, particularly in its portrayal of AmeriCorps, a federal agency, and its financial mismanagement. The language used to describe the agency’s struggles with audits, financial troubles, and alleged incompetence reflects a critical perspective typically associated with conservative viewpoints, especially through the quote from Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx. Additionally, the inclusion of comments from North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and other Democratic officials highlights a contrast in political positions. However, the article itself primarily reports on legal actions and the consequences of funding cuts without pushing a clear partisan agenda, thus maintaining a degree of neutrality in reporting factual details of the case.
