'Get used to it' - Department of Veterans Affairs announces 70,000 jobs will be cut

70,000. That’s the number of jobs the Department of Veterans Affairs will cut over the next six months. This comes from an internal VA memo leaked to the public this week. It’s the latest in a series of mass layoffs conducted by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. In a video released yesterday, VA Secretary Doug Collins said that the changes are necessary to make the department more efficient, accountable, and transparent. But, In another video released last month Collins promised that health care services and benefits would not be cut, and that 300,000 positions at the department had been labeled “mission critical” to ensure that services would not be interrupted. Hundreds of thousands of veterans in Washington state receive healthcare, disability compensation or pensions from the VA. The state has five VA hospitals in Seattle, Tacoma, Walla Walla, Spokane and Vancouver, as well as more than a dozen outpatient clinics. So now, many are wondering - what will these cuts look like, and how will they impact the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States. Guest: Orion Donovan Smith, DC Correspondent for the Spokesman Review Related Links: Trump administration to cut more than 80,000 jobs at Department of Veterans Affairs, internal memo says - Spokesman Review Mann-Grandstaff loses more VA workers as part of Trump administration’s downsizing plans - Spokesman Review Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.