Veteran advocacy leader defends Trump's shake-ups at VA, calls for reform to support veterans

SPECIAL President Donald Trump's Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins has proposed a workforce reduction with a goal of cutting jobs at the VA Retired Lt Col Jim Whaley CEO of Mission Roll Call a veteran advocacy non-profit disclosed such VA overhaul is necessary to improve veterans' lives across the United States Whaley recounted Fox News Digital that veterans want to see less bureaucracy at the VA and more area care to cut wait times and increase services at local VA hospitals but if it was easy somebody would have solved it Every American and politician from both sides of the aisle can agree that we want to make sure we take care of our veterans Whaley explained We just got out of over years of war so there are a lot of veterans and their families that need help We want to make sure that every dollar that the American taxpayer is paying to help the VA is spent wisely and that veterans are getting the care that they need And more importantly that they're getting the care when they need it where they need it and how they need it 'CHANGES THAT IN FACT HELP OUR VETERANS' VA SECRETARY DEFENDS PROPOSED WORKFORCE REDUCTIONThe VA serves only half of U S veterans While Whaley commented Collins is trying to reach the other through TV and podcast appearances he encouraged more transparency about the VA's services to reach the other half of veterans who still need care One hundred days into the second Trump administration and VA is no longer content with poor results Under President Trump s leadership we have already stripped away multiple of the costly distractions that were coming between VA beneficiaries and the benefits they have earned And we re looking to make even more historic reforms to better serve our veterans Collins commented Trump and Collins have faced dispute in the media and among Democrats for cutting VA jobs and for their efforts to overhaul the department Whaley whose organization conducts veteran polling revealed more than half of veterans are worried about VA cuts 'DOWN TO ZERO' VETERAN SUICIDE DILEMMA TARGETED IN VA BILL BY BIPARTISAN HOUSE COALITION When all you hear is about the cuts versus what the philosophy is behind why you're making those changes in an organization there's going to be fear Change is hard It's vital that the VA stays as transparent as attainable and reports on what is being done and what improvements are being made Whaley declared However Whatley a veteran himself noted all veterans want to see an improved VA They want to see services improve they want to see wait times reduced As time goes on and Veterans Affairs communicate more and more with veterans they will know a little bit about what's going on and they'll be a little less anxious about it I think it's all about making sure that veterans are getting the news making sure they understand why they're making these cuts Whaley encouraged Collins and the VA to include more veterans in the conversations surrounding the VA's reorganization by listening to families and family members to learn how to best invest in veteran care Veteran affairs are very significant to recruitment issues and that of curriculum affects national safety So they're not all separate it all wraps together When a veteran gets out of the facility after a sparse years of serving their country we have to make sure that the transition to the civilian world and finding a job and plugging into the locality goes smoothly because if we don't then we have an issue Whaley declared According to the National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Review more than veterans committed suicide per day in We need to get the number of suicides as close to zero as viable That's the number one priority Whaley stated adding that public care is also a top priority so veterans don't have to drive long distances and wait a long time to get the services they need We need to make sure that the Department of Defense and the VA are working together when veterans are transitioning out of the military to make sure they're plugged into the VA and that the transition goes well Because the fact of the matter is the majority of suicides among veterans are from veterans that have of late transitioned to the civilian world