Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins told Newsmax on Friday that the “laissez-faire attitude” about his department that he first encountered ended in early February when his tenure began.
“You would be amazed what we found coming here,” Collins said on “Newsline.” “Look, I got a lot of great folks who work for the VA, some wonderful employees, but what we have found is there was just seemingly a lack of what we’ll call structural awareness.
“When you look at that, you add things that don't need to be added in ways and places that shouldn't have been added and it took away from probably places where we could have done better, which is veterans’ care, health care, and also veterans’ benefits.
“There's a way to fix this, and I think this is something we need to understand. Organizational restructuring. Yes, it may mean downsizing, it may be consolidation of departments, but what it actually means is that we're putting more focus on the target, which is helping veterans.
“We're not an employment agency; we're a service organization,” he continued. “And I think that's what the big difference was, is there just seemingly was a hands-off, sort of laissez-faire attitude about, well, we'll just let the employees and let the individual silos build up, and it's OK because everybody picks on the VA anyway. Well, that ended on the 1st of February.
“I do not allow people to tell stories about the VA that are not true and I definitely don't let people scare my veterans and my employees. That's just not going to happen. We're going to get it fixed because President Trump wants to get it fixed and that's what he told me to do.”
In recent weeks, Collins says he has made an effort to set the record straight with news outlets, calling out journalists for what he says are inaccuracies or just plain falsehoods in their reporting about his department.
“My first idea would actually have them go back and ask for a refund from their journalism school, because undoubtedly they didn't understand how you go to actually sourcing places and actually getting real feedback,” he said.
“I was a volunteer fireman for several years when I was much younger, and I've thought about going back home — I haven't been home but once, really, since I came up here — I thought about going back home and just bringing my outfit back up here, bringing my fire helmet, bringing my clothes, back because that's all I do is put out fires, and it's not fires that is helping us,” Collins added.
While journalism is “a great thing” that “is very important to the American people,” the secretary said that rumor and innuendo have no place in it.
“When you start a story … with, basically, ‘Rumor has it,’ I thought Adele sang songs about that, not put them in journalism pieces,” Collins said.
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight's special series and President Trump's comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.