DOGE plans to cut VA contracts may harm veterans' care, employees say
Despite a backlash, Elon Musk’s DOGE is planning to terminate 585 VA contracts, some of which appear to be central to patient safety.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency abandoned some of its plans to slash contract spending for veterans’ health care services this week after a revolt by front-line Veterans Health Administration employees who contended many of the cuts would imperil safety at the agency’s almost 1,400 hospitals and clinics.
What had been a list of 875 VA contracts scheduled for termination a little over a week ago has now become 585 canceled contracts, the VA said Monday. The about-face is a rare public retreat by the so-called efficiency operation known as DOGE, which has come under fire for moving to ax crucial government services and overstating the value of some of its savings to taxpayers.
In its announcement reducing the number of contracts to be canceled, the VA said that the terminations “will not negatively affect Veteran care, benefits or services” and that they “were identified through a deliberative, multi-level review.” The agency acknowledged that some of the canceled contracts had already been fully paid for.
The list of contracts still on the chopping block has not been made public, and the VA declined to provide it. But VA employees have identified 200 of the remaining scheduled cancellations to NBC News, and some of them appear to be central to patient safety, those employees say.
For example, the revised list of killed contracts includes those covering sterility certification for VA hospital pharmacy operations, facility air quality and safety testing to prevent transmission of infections, and sterile processing services to decontaminate equipment and medical instruments. Also on the list: contracts providing required certification and accreditation for stroke centers and follow-up care for cancer patients.
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