Trump’s new VA secretary, Doug Collins, has actively trivialized the work done by hundreds of VA contracts

Doug Collins was confirmed to be the secretary of veterans affairs in mid-January .

He was criticized for his handling of past VA outsourcing to private-sector vendors.

Collins canceled 875 VA -related contracts, none of which had anything to do with outside vendors.

He also canceled contracts with companies that train rural health nurses and doctors, and help VA facilities adhere to state and federal standards.

In 2024 , Congress allocated $984 million to fund VA research.

On top of this, nonprofit and industry “extramural” partners contributed $300 million to the VA ’s research portfolio.

VA researchers across the country received an email from Joseph Holston , of the VA Office of Research and Development , “that the Qualtrics SaaS contract will be terminated immediately”.

At only one VA site in Durham , North Carolina , 23 research staff had just been fired.

At another site, VA has lost an IRB Committee coordinator/program analyst research, senior data analyst, and nine “longstanding and highly valued investigators and staff,” Tran said.

Tran described the situation as “horrifying”.