U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono joined Congressional colleagues in renewing their call for Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to provide a full list of VA contracts that have been canceled or proposed for cancellation. 

What You Need To Know

  • Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins has made no secret of his intent to dramatically restructure the VA in keeping with President Donald Trump's edict to reduce federal spending and operate more efficiently
  • The lawmakers chastised Collins for initiating a chaotic process of mass cancellations for purposes inconsistent with his public statements
  • They also accused the secretary of hiding “the truth” of the cancellations from Congress by not responding to its requests for a full accounting of contracts canceled and restored, the department’s process and the savings supposedly generated and reinvested
  • A May 16 VA report purported to identify more than 445 contracts the department had canceled. According to the lawmakers, at least 80 of the contracts listed were terminated during the previous administration and other information, several others are not marked as canceled on the Federal Procurement Data System, and some are listed with "wildly inaccurate value/savings figures"

Collins has made no secret of his intent to dramatically restructure the VA in keeping with President Donald Trump's edict to reduce federal spending and operate more efficiently.

Earlier this month, Collins made his first appearance before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and defended both the ongoing cuts as well as an upcoming reduction of more than 80,000 VA jobs.

“VA is in need of reform,” Collins told the committee. “We must do a better job delivering timely care to veterans, getting to ‘yes’ so veterans can get the benefits they’ve earned, and making sure the money Congress appropriates to VA is not diverted to non-mission-critical or even wasteful programs.”

In a letter to Collins transmitted on Wednesday, Hirono and a bicameral group of more than a dozen Democratic and Independent members of Congress noted that Congressional committees have made more than a dozen requests asking for information. They also requested a briefing from VA officials on the process by which contracts were and continue to be identified and canceled and any meaningful advance consultation with career VA officials whose programs are impacted by cancellations. They further asked to be briefed on activities of the VA-designated Department of Government Efficiency personnel or liaisons and other DOGE personnel involved in VA programs, operations, and management.

The lawmakers chastised Collins for initiating a chaotic process of mass cancellations for purposes inconsistent with his public statements.

“On February 24 and 25, 2025, you publicly celebrated on social media your plan, carried out with Elon Musk and DOGE, to cancel hundreds of VA contracts you claimed were for ‘PowerPoint slides and meeting minutes’ and you indicated were valued at $2 billion,” the lawmakers wrote. “After you had given the orders for career officials in the department to start the cancellations, a list of more than 870 contracts was leaked to Congress and the media. In reality, these contracts were predominantly for direct services for veterans or supporting VA operations including: suicide prevention and mental health treatment; radiology services; outreach regarding burial benefits and health care services; cancer care; the PACT Act; disability claims processing and audits; and ensuring safe and clean facilities.

The lawmakers accused the secretary of hiding “the truth” of the cancellations from Congress by not responding to its requests for a full accounting of contracts canceled and restored, the department’s process and the savings supposedly generated and reinvested.

They further pointed to inaccuracies in data the VA did provide, including a May 16 report that purported to identify more than 445 contracts the department had canceled. According to the lawmakers, at least 80 of the contracts listed were terminated during the previous administration and other information, several others are not marked as canceled on the Federal Procurement Data System, and some are listed with “wildly inaccurate value/savings figures.”

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.