May 15, 2025

Ranking Member Takano’s Opening Statement to Secretary Collins, “VA is not for sale”

WASHINGTON— Ranking Member Mark Takano (CA-39) delivered the following opening statement as prepared at the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing entitled, "Department of Veterans Affairs FY2026 and 2027 Advance Appropriations Budget Request”.

Thank you, Chairman Bost.

Mr. Secretary, when I first heard of your nomination to this position, I recall saying to my staff, “I think we will be able to do good work at VA with Doug Collins.” I had optimism based on your time as a Member of this chamber that you would have an appreciation for our duty to perform oversight. When a new Secretary is confirmed, every member of this committee— Republican or Democrat— wants to see them succeed. Because veterans deserve leadership, not chaos.

That is why it is incredibly upsetting and frustrating to me that the questions my colleagues and I have about decisions you have made in your short tenure at VA remain unanswered.

You came in with an opportunity to build trust across this institution, and across the aisle. But instead, you’ve undermined it—not just with me, but with VA staff, and with the veterans who rely on VA every day.

I reviewed your Senate testimony, and any reasonable viewer would have concluded that you were evasive and not transparent with your answers. I hope you will not do that today. You have the power to change course. Veterans need answers, not excuses. We’ll see today whether you’re ready to lead— or just continue to blame.

This hearing is the first time we have met in person since you were sworn in. You haven’t so much as called me since your confirmation 99 days ago. 

My experience with your predecessor was that he would proactively call both me and the Chairman before major news broke about VA so that our first time finding out about it wasn’t from reading the paper or seeing it on television. For instance, he would have called us before cancelling a program as important as VASP where the consequences for veterans are as dire as foreclosure on their homes. This is the basic transparency that I expect from the Secretary, so that we can work together on challenges facing VA. 

VA is not perfect. VA has never been perfect.  We are not satisfied with the status quo at VA and that is what brought all of us to this Committee. But we are not just going to blindly support your changes at VA without you giving us all the facts or any semblance of a plan. You have not earned our trust. At least not yet.

And that is what I will be listening for today: answers that contain facts,and  plans that are based on those facts. 

Last week before the Senate, you failed to answer questions asking for details about decisions you have made as Secretary. Senator Hirono asked you the exact dollar amount that VA claims to have saved from firing staff. You rather flippantly threw out a culture war statement about DEI instead of answering the question. Senator Boozman raised questions about VASP and you gave an incomplete answer. Questions about how many clinical trials are on pause and how many veterans are affected were unanswered. 

This morning, in the MILCON-VA Appropriations Subcommittee, you admitted that VA shifted over $300 million dollars to private, for-profit community care— without following the law.

That money was meant to support care and capacity inside VA. Instead, it was siphoned away from veterans’ hospitals and clinics, and handed off to the private sector.

The law is clear: if VA needs more funding for community care, it must ask Congress—not illegally raid funds meant for direct VA care. Both the Chair and Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee agree. I do too. I hope Chairman Bost joins us in demanding accountability.

This morning before the MILCON-VA Appropriations Subcommittee, you also gave very disturbing answers to questions about the effect of pauses on clinical trials. You said that having clinical trials paused is not affecting veterans’ healthcare; that it’s “above and beyond healthcare.” Is that really what you are saying to veterans with cancer whose hopes are pinned on clinical trials that they can no longer access?

All of the questions we are going to ask today are ones that you should have come prepared to answer, and I will be disappointed if you are not prepared. We have already asked many of them in letters. This is basic Congressional oversight. 

The Members and staff on both sides of this committee collectively have centuries of experience working on VA policy and serving our nation. We have written some of the most consequential pieces of veteran legislation in history, including the Honoring Our PACT Act. We can only carry out our oversight responsibility as mandated in the Constitution if you answer our questions fully and truthfully.

We have serious concerns about your plans related to the VA workforce, and this hearing is an opportunity for you to put our minds at ease. 

VA is comprised of over 400,000 dedicated employees who show up every day motivated by the call to service to deliver the care and benefits veterans have earned. The majority of veterans are satisfied with their VA care. Yet many have expressed to me the weight of the chaos and turmoil they have witnessed during Trump’s first 100 days and are left wondering what will happen to the care they rely on and love. 

They are worried that their provider with whom they have spent years building rapport and trust could lose their job.

We heard from a veteran for whom this fear sadly became reality – this veteran lost her Whole Health coach who she described as “the one person really making a difference in my life”.

We have heard countless stories of the trauma and harassment VA staff have endured at the hands of Trump’s senior advisors and political appointees since day one of this administration. I want to hear directly from you today whether you agree with the Director of OMB, Russell Vought that the trauma is the point. Does this administration want to traumatize public servants into submission or into quitting their jobs so the work can be farmed out to Trump’s billionaire friends? Let me tell you one thing clearly: VA is not for sale. 

I am truly worried about the combative tone you have taken in addressing VA staff. You have instilled a culture of fear by making them sign non-disclosure agreements and accusing them of rumors and innuendo. It is insulting and demeaning that you continue to accuse VA staff and veterans of lying about their experiences, their concerns, and the things they are seeing with their own eyes. 

How areemployees supposed to be inspired to fight for a better VA with you if you are constantly positioning yourself against them, as if they are the enemy? Fear as a tactic for leadership is not effective.

As one clinician put it: 

“I have felt harassed by and have diminished faith in the leadership of the VA Secretary who continually throws VA employees under the bus and has shown no interest in learning about the concerns of his front-line staff. His line about VA now putting veterans first particularly irks me—in my 15 years working at two different VA medical centers, I know we have always put veterans first.”

We need more answers about your plans for VA. These plans directly affect veterans, staff, and the economy in all of our districts.

You have set a goal to fire 83,000 employees, leaving VA staff waking up every morning with the torture of not knowing if that day is their last one with a job. You took away veterans’ last lifeline to keep their homes when they face foreclosure when you ended the VASP program. You are doing all these things during a time of financial turmoil for families in America while we deal with the impacts of Trump’s chaotic tariffs and economic policies. We are trying to make sense of it all so that we can better serve veterans. 

Mr. Secretary, I hope this hearing today is an opportunity to build trust. We want to have confidence in your leadership and as the leader of VA, you owe it to VA staff and you owe it to veterans to be transparent and forthcoming, and to take on some accountability. You have the opportunity to answer our questions fully and truthfully. I hope you will seize that opportunity. 

With that, I yield back. 

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