Democrats blast Trump administration’s proposed Veterans Affairs cuts
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Veterans are growing concerned about the Trump administration’s proposal to downsize the Department of Veterans Affairs.
During a heated hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins defended his goal of cutting his department by 15%. “The department’s history shows that adding more employees to the system doesn’t automatically equal better results,” he said.
A day after the hearing, Arizona Democrats, led by Rep. Greg Stanton, sent a letter to Collins saying the cuts would “lead to delays in care that will hurt Arizona veterans and erode their trust in their care.”
“Unfortunately, in the not too distant past, there was a shameful period in which wait times got to be so long at the Phoenix VA that there is no doubt that veterans died as a result of waiting for the care that they need,” Stanton says. “We never ever want to go back to those dark days.”
Stanton says cuts of the size being proposed would directly impact veterans’ care and that the administration’s approach is like using a chainsaw instead of a scalpel.
Collins argues it’s about eliminating layers of bureaucracy and waste and not cutting primary health care or benefits. “Our goal, and here is the key word, our goal as we look at it as everything goes forward is a 15% decrease.”
“We all acknowledge that the VA is not perfect,” says Phoenix veteran Joanna Sweatt. She was part of a group of 75 vets who attended the hearing to oppose the cuts.
“It would cripple our system,” she says. “We know, especially as veterans, it’s not just about the doctors and the nurses, just like in the military, it’s not just about the front lines and the infantry. We need wrap-around support. We need administrative staff.”
Rep. Stanton says the VA is already short-staffed. In the letter, he writes, “because of these staffing shortages, the average wait time for new patients at most Phoenix-area VA facilities is above the standard of 20 days for primary care and mental health appointments.”
The letter to Secretary Collins asks for a response by April 30 to the following questions:
- How many employees and contractors of the VA Phoenix Health Care System do you plan to terminate as part of the VA directive to lay off 15% of VA staff?
- By occupational series, how many clinical staff members at the VA Phoenix Health Care System do you plan to terminate?
- How many non-clinical staff do you plan to terminate at the VA Phoenix Health Care System, by occupational series?
- What is your timeline for laying off such employees and contractors?
- Within two weeks, please provide a time to brief the signatories below on your detailed plan on how, in light of its planned reduction in force, the VA Phoenix Health Care System will maintain a high standard of care, reduce appointment wait times, and overcome severe staffing shortages.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
