VA pauses billions in cuts lauded by Musk as lawmakers and veterans
decry loss of critical care
 [February 27, 2025]
By TARA COPP and CARLA K. JOHNSON
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs has temporarily
suspended billions of dollars in planned contract cuts following
concerns that the move would hurt critical veterans' health services,
lawmakers and veterans service organizations said Wednesday.
The pause affects hundreds of VA contracts that Secretary Doug Collins a
day earlier described as simply consulting deals, whose cancellation
would save $2 billion as the Trump administration works to slash costs
across the federal government.
“No more paying consultants to do things like make Power Point slides
and write meeting minutes!” Collins posted to X Tuesday, in a post that
was then lauded by Elon Musk, President Donald Trump's cost-cutting
chief at the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
The Associated Press has obtained the full list of 875 affected
contracts, which shows the cuts would affect everything from cancer care
to the ability to assess toxic exposure. The list underscores how the
Trump administration’s approach to broad spending reductions has
immediate and potentially unintended consequences, generating
significant concern not just among Democrats but also Republican
lawmakers.
The VA said in a statement to the AP that its review of the contracts
“is ongoing and not final.”
“We will not be eliminating any benefits or services to Veterans or VA
beneficiaries, and there will be no negative impact to VA health care,
benefits or beneficiaries. We are always going to take care of Veterans
at VA. Period,” VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz said in a statement.
One contract that was on the chopping block supports assessing veterans'
disability ratings. Those evaluations are one of the most important
steps needed for a veteran to qualify to have their medical care covered
and receive financial compensation if they were wounded due to their
military service. An inaccurate rating can have a long-term impact on
their access to care and financial support.
Another contract is intended to identify and integrate data between the
Pentagon, VA and other agencies to support the Promise to Address
Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022, a bill passed in 2022 to
increase veterans’ access to care.
Some of the other contracts marked for cancellation also directly affect
veterans' care.
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 At a joint House and Senate hearing
Wednesday with veterans services organizations, Connecticut
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal submitted a partial list of the
affected contracts his office had received and submitted it for the
congressional record.
If carried out, these cuts “will harm veterans and taxpayers for
years to come,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
In an internal VA email sent Tuesday and seen by
the AP, a VA contracting official said DOGE targeted contracts
broadly categorized as “consulting” but they included ones that if
terminated would halt chemotherapy and imaging services.
Contracts to calibrate radiation detection equipment, to support
cancer care and veterans cemetery management, among others were also
targeted. Another would directly affect the ability to assess toxic
exposure because it supports more than 24,000 research requests to
look through the National Archives and Records Administration and
other government sources to validate service and toxic exposure
events.
Former VA Secretary David Shulkin, who served in the Trump
administration in his first term, said that while the agency has
gotten larger and there are likely savings to be found, the VA grew,
in part, to meet the large expansion of veterans enrolling to get
care under the PACT Act. More than 740,000 veterans signed up for
coverage after the law passed, according to a September 2024 VA
press release.
“I do think slowing down and pausing to see what the consequences
are, even if they are unintended consequences, is important to do,”
Shulkin told The Associated Press.
Veterans service organizations called for ”immediate transparency”
on what contracts were affected.
“With funding suddenly stripped from contractors processing claims,
conducting medical screenings and expanding outreach, there are
growing concerns veterans will face delays, denials and disruptions
in accessing critical services,” said Rosie Torres, executive
director of Burn Pits 360.
The group advocates for veterans who face life-altering respiratory
illnesses and cancers due to toxic exposure to dangerous air
particle matter generated from massive trash-burning fires at
overseas bases.
The Washington Post was first to report on the cancellations.
___
Johnson reported from Washington state.
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