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After taking the brave oath of service, veterans deserve the BEST care consistently. New Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins, has promised just that.

For years, Veterans have been asking for better efficiency, accountability, and transparency, and now it's finally being delivered. I wanted to take a moment to share with you all what's going on and reassure you that veterans' benefits will continue to be supported.

These changes Secretary Collins described in the video below are designed to improve veterans' experiences with the VA, not diminish them. The VA will be able to provide bureaucratic reductions while improving veteran services, the VA plans to take the following actions:

* A department-wide review to eliminate waste, cut red tape, and improve efficiency.

* Reducing overall employment by 15%, from approximately 470,000 to around 398,000 employees, without cutting healthcare or benefits for veterans and their families.

* Continuing to hire for over 300,000 mission-critical roles to ensure healthcare and benefits remain fully supported and uninterrupted.

* Reviewing 90,000 contracts worth over $67 billion to identify and eliminate waste. So far, after reviewing just 2% of contracts, nearly 600 non-essential or duplicative agreements have been canceled, saving the VA approximately $900 million, funds that will be redirected to veteran-facing healthcare and services.

* Improving customer service and convenience for veterans by fixing long-standing problems and communicating changes clearly and publicly.

Secretary Collins is working to ENSURE these reforms are focused on making sure EVERY DOLLAR goes to supporting veterans, not to a bloated bureaucracy. Trust me, I will continue to monitor these changes closely to ensure that veterans’ care and benefits are protected and improved!!