Former Trump VA secretary: 'I don't know any system that slashes its way to excellence'

Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin said Thursday he did not “know any system that slashes its way to excellence” following Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) head Doug Collins's announcement that the department is preparing to cut around 72,000 jobs.

“I do applaud the administration for taking a look at how they can make this agency work better. We cannot continue the status quo. The wait times are going up … veteran suicide is actually on the rise, we have tens of thousands of homeless veterans, so we do need to take a look at how to improve this system,” Shulkin told Brianna Keilar on “CNN News Central.”

"But I don't know any system that slashes its way to excellence," he added.

In a video statement Wednesday, Collins said while the VA worked on its “department-wide review of its organization, operations and structure,” in line with President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) workforce optimization initiative, the department was taking “a pragmatic and disciplined approach to eliminating waste and bureaucracy.”

“Our goal is to reduce VA employment levels to 2019 in strength numbers, roughly 398,000 employees, from our current level of approximately 470,000 employees,” Collins said in the video. “Now that’s a 15 percent decrease. We’re going to accomplish this without making cuts to health care or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries.”

Last week, the VA fired 1,400 employees as it was already facing public outcry on low transparency following 1,000 other workers being fired earlier in February.

“The VA is a terrific national resource, and it's filled with people that are there to help veterans,” Shulkin said Thursday.

"So, the one thing we don't want to do is lose the confidence in the VA," he continued.

The Hill has reached out to the VA and the White House for comment.

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