Amid nationwide and local protests over federal cuts to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Secretary Doug Collins made a stop in Nashville on Monday, during which he recognized local VA employees and addressed concerns over changes to the organization.
Collins visited the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (Nashville's VA medical center) along with Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and U.S. Reps. Diana Harshbarger and Tim Burchett. They honored five employees of Tennessee Valley for their service.
Veterans protest outside the state Capitol, calling for an end to funding and staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs by the Department of Government Efficiency, March 14, 2025
Collins followed the recognition by addressing a recent announcement that the department is planning to cut more than 80,000 jobs in a reorganization initiative working with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He said between 40 and 50 of the jobs cut so far have been in Middle Tennessee. Collins said under his leadership, along with the rest of the Trump administration, the layoffs mark a positive shift in how the VA is run.
“The VA has been the whipping post for a long time — it’s been the thing everybody blames when it doesn’t go right,” Collins said. “Those days are over at the VA. With my friends in Congress and other places, we’re going to make sure … our veterans are going to be our forefront of everything we do, and our veteran employees, our VA employees, are going to have a secretary who has their back.”
He said none of the cuts will target patient care or disability benefits, and the department has protected more than 300,000 jobs. He added that he hopes to update the health records management system and improve wait times at VA hospitals.
Veterans protest outside the state Capitol, calling for an end to funding and staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs by the Department of Government Efficiency, March 14, 2025
Blackburn, who serves in the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said some veterans in Tennessee are waiting up to 70 days to get primary care appointments and expressed her support of the department's restructuring.
“This is the time that we need innovators and entrepreneurs to bring forward ideas of how you do things better,” Blackburn said. “We also need to look at how partnerships affect us. Right here, we’re so fortunate to have this partnership with Vanderbilt.”
Blackburn introduced the Veterans Health Care Freedom Act in January in hopes of streamlining veterans’ access to health care by creating a pilot program that would allow veterans to access primary, specialty and mental health care outside their corresponding Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN) and at non-VA facilities.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
