Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins was dismissive about his plan to cut 83,000 VA jobs, and that did not sit well with lawmakers this week.
Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter Jamie Dupree says lawmakers dressed down Collins about which of the 15 percent of VA staff the administration plans to fire. The secretary attempted to dismiss their concern, but found both Democrats and Republicans united against him in a Tuesday hearing.
Two months after Trump’s announcement of firing 83,000 workers — many of them veterans — Collins still had no answer on which workers will be targeted. But while he was short on answers, Collins was long on contempt for the questions, according to Dupree.
READ MORE: Donald Trump just inadvertently invoked the Christian understanding of the Antichrist
“I will not let you sit here and scare my veterans and scare my employees,” Collins told senators, without mentioning that it was his own administration’s announcement to gut the VA workforce causing the scare.
“You cannot set out a goal and then get angry at us for asking what the impacts of that goal and those cuts would be,” Sen. Maggie Hassan, (D-N.H.) told Collins at one point in the meeting.
Collins mocked Democrats for saying there would be 83,000 jobs cut at the VA, seemingly attempting to dismiss the allegation as fake news.
“It’s a nice talking point,” Collins told Hassan, dismissively.
READ MORE: 'Vile broken man': Trump buried over 'horrible' remarks about former official
“Talking point?” Hassan snapped. “It is your talking point. We are quoting you saying that’s the goal.”
“It is our goal,” confirmed Collins. “The goal is not a fact.”
Some Republicans, like House Veterans Committee, Rep. Mike Bost, (R-Ill.) has called the 83,000 VA job cuts “a lie being told by the Democrats.” But it was not just Democrats growing furious at Collins in the hearing.
“It ought not be a set number,” said U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, (R-Kan), who chairs the Senate Veterans Committee. “It ought to be about rightsizing.”
Read the full Atlanta-Journal Constitution report here.