GEOFF BENNETT: The Trump administration announced it's planning to fire thousands more employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs as part of the White House effort to dramatically downsize the federal work force.

A quarter of the VA's work force comprises veterans themselves.

And that's prompting questions about how the cuts might affect the quality and timeliness of the services the VA provides.

Doug Collins is the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs and joins us now.

Thanks for being with us.

Welcome to the "News Hour."

DOUG COLLINS, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs: I'm glad to be here.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, earlier this evening, you confirmed that the VA will terminate an additional 70,000-plus staffers, and you say that these cuts will help the VA fulfill its core mission.

How exactly?

How is it possible to reduce staffing and resources without negatively impacting the quality and timeliness of care?

DOUG COLLINS: Well, the first off is, I didn't announce that we're actually going through it at this moment.

I said we're beginning the process to look at a reduction in force that will resemble about 15 percent of the force, and that's what we have begun to do.

What we have done all along is actually take a look at our core functions, making sure that the veteran is first.

And it is sort of interesting to me that we say that there's no way this can affect quality of care or others, when really what we're seeing right now, what we have experienced over the last few years is Washington, D.C.'s tendency to just throw money and people at problems.

Over the last four years, there's been $130 billion added to the budget at the VA and plus 80,000 employees, but yet at the same time backlogs of benefits have went up.

health care wait times have actually went up, and when this was all a different position just four years ago.

So the question is not what we're looking at to make sure that we're getting efficient, is following what the president has called for, but also making sure that we're delivering it in the best way.

And we're the best ones to look at that by actually taking our force, who is doing a great job, but saying, how can we do it more efficiently?

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, given the VA wait times scandal during the Obama administration, the ongoing concerns about access to care for veterans, what specific safeguards are in place to ensure that veterans don't face longer delays or reduced services?

DOUG COLLINS: Well, I think what safeguards is employees doing their jobs, and which is what they're trying -- we're working to make sure they have all the tools to do that.

We're also putting in place making sure that they have the critical assets to the appointment schedules.

We're making a look at all of how we actually deal with our hiring.

Remember, one of the things we have talked about here and that has not been talked about enough is, we're protecting and have protected over 300,000 positions at the VA that we had this mission critical, front-facing to our veterans, not only in health care but in benefits as well.

We're doing this to make sure that we're actually getting the results we needed.

I think too long we found in Washington -- and I have said this before, and I said it on the video earlier -- that we have this idea that money and people will solve issues.

And, really, the reality is, is, if you don't have good processes in place, you're not going to solve the problem.

This has been going on the Hill and we have known this on Capitol Hill for years.

Senator Johnny Isakson from Georgia, who used to be the chair of the Senate VA Committee, actually said this almost 10 years ago.

He said the problem with the VA is not that it needs more money.

And this was almost $200 billion ago.

It needed a better structure.

And that's what we're trying to provide.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, a question about the process, because our team has heard from scores of veterans who've been terminated as a result of these DOGE cuts.

And there's an Air Force veteran who asked that we protect his identity.

He says he was twice promoted, yet received a termination notice describing poor job performance.

Take a listen.

AIR FORCE VETERAN, Fired Veterans Affairs Employee: Last week, to be locked out of my computer and handed a blanket termination e-mail that was sent from OPM saying that I was being let go due to poor performance,and it's a flat-out lie.

It's a disgusting lie, at that.

I received awards from upper management, certificates.

I was treated like a criminal, like I had done something wrong.

They're destroying people's lives to get to these numbers that you're requesting.

If you don't realize that, I'm trying to let you know now here's your wakeup call.

GEOFF BENNETT: So what do you say to that,the indiscriminate or dismissive treatment that some VA staffers are describing related to their termination?

DOUG COLLINS: Well, the one thing, this will be a probationary employee who was let go.

This is where this has been coming from the process, which is an understanding we're looking at the total picture.

This is an employee also that was in a non what was deemed out of those 300,000-plus jobs that I mentioned earlier, not a front-facing position that affects veterans' health directly or veterans' benefits directly.

Look, this is something that we have.

There's nothing that I take more serious than having to look at our work force and making -- and having layoffs that happen.

We feel for that, but it happens not only in government.

It happens all across the country in many jobs that we're seeing just in the last little bit with Southwest Airlines and others who are announcing large layoffs.

These are the kind of things that are hard to do, and there's something not easy and I take very seriously, but also in the perspective that we have to look out and say, are we going to be fulfilling the mission that the president has asked us to do?

And that is to take care of our veterans, but also do it in a cost-effective and very efficient manner.

And, again, one of the things that I have said here that's not mentioned very much in the press is, if this was an area in which it should have been flagged or if this was a mistake and it shouldn't have been part of this probationary, there is an exemption process that has been used many times, but undoubtedly in this person's case, their supervisor decided, or they decided not to ask for the exemption because their position, where it was and what was going on.

So, again, it is bad when anyone lose their job, but there are things in place to make sure that we are trying to target as best we can the areas that we need to.

GEOFF BENNETT: Veterans, as I'm sure you well know, have been hit hard across the board as it relates to these DOGE cuts, because veterans comprised nearly 30 percent of the federal work force.

And there are Americans who no doubt believe that people who serve their country and who continue that service through their federal job should be exempt from these firings.

How do you view it?

DOUG COLLINS: Well, I view it as this.

As someone who served for 23 years, was the Air Force, who's also been deployed, who also understands what life like -- is, it's interesting to me that they always look to the government as to where is exempt an employee, that our job is the government - - part of a job for a government employee is something sacrosanct outside of the government.

My other question is, for those who say they should be exempt inside of government, where are they in the process of taking care of veterans not working for the government?

Look, all veterans are the same to me.

They have earned benefits.

They have earned and served our country well.

They're very protected and loved by me and wanting to be cared for.

And that's what they will continue to get their care from health care and benefits from the VA.

But, again, it's an interesting thing that we look at government employment as something different than employment outside.

And, again, to say that a veteran who's employed by the government is different than a veteran employed outside of government is just, frankly, not a valid argument.

GEOFF BENNETT: A question about veteran care.

We spoke with a veteran who's currently receiving inpatient treatment at the Bath VA Medical Center in New York.

And this person says the cuts that the VA have instituted already are affecting the quality of care.

JEREMY COPE, Former U.S. Marine: We have also had a lot of scheduled groups that are being canceled simply because we don't have the staff to facilitate them.

And so that leaves us veterans to our own devices.

A lot of people just isolate in their rooms.

And for people who suffer from substance use disorder or mental health issues, isolation is one of the worst things you can do, especially in recovery from substance use.

To the administration who says there's no effect on veteran care, I say you are absolutely wrong, and come here, and I will show you.

GEOFF BENNETT: What's your response?

DOUG COLLINS: Well, my response is, this is just a piece of journalism that's not doing its job, in the sense of you're taking a veteran who is saying that they're not getting care in a facility in a health setting in which those jobs and others have been exempt.

And so care that has been taken care would not have been affected.

And also, by the way, this has just happened within the last week.

To say that there's this -- all of a sudden this dearth in care because of cuts that are happening here is simply not right.

Remember, in these areas, we're also having - - we have exempted 300,000 employees.

And, sometimes, we're having to also -- if someone leaves or goes away from that position, we're also having to hire.

We're able to hire under.

We're not under the hiring freeze for those positions.

So we're trying to bring people in.

But to blame this and simply use this event to blame it on cuts and blame it on what's happening right now with the VA is, frankly, not fair to the American people and it's not fair to veterans who are hearing this thinking that something else is going on.

This may be this person's perspective.

I respect their position, but their position does not reflect what we have actually done.

GEOFF BENNETT: How would a veteran like that be able to flag that concern and have it addressed in this -- in this new administration?

DOUG COLLINS: Well, they can go -- if they're having issues, they can talk to the people at the VA.

They can talk to their schedulers.

They can actually, again, as always happens here, and it's one of the things we got to get away from, if they're having problems with scheduling or scheduling is not happening, we have some issues in third-party scheduling or however they're trying to get their schedule made, is, look, reach out to your veterans service organization.

Reach out to our veteran crisis line.

Talk to the people.

Don't just simply sit there and think that you're by yourself.

We have multitudes of resources to reach out to find out what's going on and to find out what's really happening.

My concern is, though, is that people are being led or mistold things that are not actually affecting their specific care, and they're then trying to broaden it out to a more open attack on what they -- to maybe positions that they don't understand or don't like.

GEOFF BENNETT: Secretary Collins, we are out of time, but we invite you back any time to continue this conversation.

GEOFF BENNETT: Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, thank you.

DOUG COLLINS: Take care.