00:00Donald Trump and Secretary Collins are manufacturing a cynical staffing crisis at the Veterans Administration.
00:08Earlier this year, we learned that Secretary Collins announced plans for a wide-scale 80,000-plus employee reduction of the workforce at the VA,
00:18putting the well-being of our veterans at immediate risk.
00:22There was never any transparency for these plans, and many of the decisions were clearly done haphazardly without thinking through the consequences.
00:31Yesterday, the VA released another alarming announcement, saying they're on pace to lose 30,000 staffers without having to resort to a reduction in force, as if that made things better.
00:44They proposed 80,000 because of huge pressure, mainly from our veterans and our veterans groups, they backed off.
00:52But make no mistake about it, a cut of 30,000 will decimate the ability of the VA to provide good health care to our veterans who have risked their lives for us.
01:06What Secretary Collins is doing is making the VA so toxic that workers are leaving on their own.
01:14The bottom of the workers, I've talked to so many of them, they're dedicated to helping our veterans.
01:19And when they see the administration just slashing and burning the VA without any concern for the consequences or why people were fired,
01:29the bottom line is still this.
01:31Thanks to Donald Trump and Secretary Collins, tens of thousands of highly skilled workers are exiting the VA,
01:39and our veterans are the ones that suffer.
01:41I have heard this from veterans over and over again.
01:45One story sticks out in my mind.
01:47A woman who served in Afghanistan, got PTSD, was treated at the VA hospital near Buffalo,
01:55and then because she saw the dedication of those VA workers, she became an employee.
02:02She worked really hard.
02:05She was dedicated to the veterans.
02:06She knew she could probably make more money in another job.
02:09But she got home one Friday night and saw on her computer your rift, which means you're fired,
02:18with no reason why and not even a chance to come back into the office and pick the mementos that she had there with pictures of her loved ones.
02:29Donald Trump likes to pretend like he cares about our armed service members and veterans.
02:35But actions speak louder than words, and Donald Trump's actions when it comes to sabotaging the VA are disgusting.
02:42And the worst part about what's happening at the VA is timing.
02:45While Donald Trump creates a staffing crisis at the VA, his big ugly bill will jeopardize Medicaid coverage for veterans,
02:55as well as shut down hospitals that serve veterans, and thereby put even more strain on the VA.
03:01It's a vicious cycle, a cynical double whammy, where veterans pay the ultimate price for Donald Trump's cruelty.
03:09The administration should immediately reverse course and refill these positions and make sure the VA operates at full capacity.
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