Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff pressed VA Secretary Doug Collins for specific information about how many doctors and nurses the VA plans to employ amidst shortages in Georgia, but Secretary Collins could not answer his questions.
Sen. Ossoff, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, today held a hearing about VA’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
In the hearing, Sen. Ossoff pressed VA Secretary Collins for details of proposed cuts to the VA medical services budget and pressed for specific numbers of how many doctors and nurses the VA plans to employ, as would normally be included in the Agency’s budget request.
However, Secretary Collins was unable to provide specific information, saying the budget documents were still not ready, despite the focus of the hearing being VA’s proposed budget, totaling $441 billion.
“I’m wondering if we need to reconvene having received the full budget request, because the thing that is causing a lot of consternation is this proposed $17, $18 billion cut to medical services,” Ranking Member Ossoff said. “So, how do you justify this cut to medical services, and who are you going to fire in order to pay for it?”
Sen. Ossoff specifically asked for the number of physicians, doctors, nurses, and dentists VA planned to employ.
“How have you calculated the money you need for personnel without having yet decided how many personnel to employ?” Ranking Member Ossoff later asked.
