Leo Shane

I appreciate the invite.

Yeah, I'm not sure that they have taken it all back. We've gotten an official word from VA that they're reviewing these contracts and that they will make sure that there's no impact, there's concerns about it. But I've talked to sources within the VA and some of these offices. They haven't gotten official word that these have been rescinded. They're still working under the assumption that

These will eventually go away, that at least most of the contracts they've started looking at will disappear at some point in the future here. So there's just a lot of uncertainty. I think the VA is now realizing just how deep some of these cuts are, and they're trying to claw back. Maybe some of these will be reversed.

But at least officially, these offices haven't been told that they're in the clear.

The common theme with these contracts seems to be that they're not direct services. These aren't like doctors who are working directly with a patient or someone who's actually taking over a funeral and actually transporting a casket or doing things like that. These are support services. So it may be a contract to you know, helps coordinate that.

I've heard from folks who are involved in benefits processing who aren't directly doing the benefits claims themselves, but what they are doing is they're helping guide veterans through that process, making it easier for them. So clearly a very valuable service, but at least in the eyes of someone in the administration, it's not a direct benefit to veterans.

So that's what seems to be the trip up here. You know, the VA is insisting that they're not going to hurt anything that would benefit veterans, beneficiaries, families, but it feels like they're going after these secondary services that are still very valuable but maybe don't directly touch veterans in connecting them to medical care or some sort of disability payout.

Yeah, right now, we're just guessing. I have heard that there were scheduled mass firings at VA tomorrow as well with the Defense Department. So, those might be on hold at this point. I mean, as you said, the judge's ruling, we've just got the loose parameters of it right now. He does say that he doesn't have the power to reinstate anyone, but that OPM also doesn't have the power to fire anyone.

So, It feels like this might just end up in a situation where VA has to actually take the step of being the ones who order the dismissals, being the ones who actually accept the responsibility for it. And that's not a small task.

As you referenced, there's a lot of lawmakers out there who are furious with Secretary Doug Collins for not standing up for veterans, for not doing his part to say everything in VA should be protected. So, you know, we'll see in the next, you know, next few days here exactly what it means for those folks who've been dismissed.

Thank you.

Yeah, look, this is a small number in comparison to the entire VA workforce. VA has about 480,000 employees, so it's not necessarily something that is widespread. But we still don't really have a handle on who these folks are. VA's press release, as you said, says they're not mission-critical folks.

But I've already gotten calls from a few sources saying that at least one employee from the Veterans Crisis line was laid off. That it's someone who was not in a position where they're answering calls of suicidal veterans, but they are providing support services. So we just don't know exactly what these cuts are and who they are, how deep they'll get into veteran services.

Yeah, I think there's just a lot of confusion right now. And even some folks that should be exempt, their supervisors aren't sure if they should be processing, if they should be bringing in new folks, exactly what the problem should, you know, how to deal with this issue. So I think... Maybe in a few weeks, there'll be some clarity.

Maybe there will be some idea that these folks are exempt and that they'll start filling these positions. But at least for now, it just feels like chaos. It feels like a lot of folks don't know, will I be on board? Is my job gone? Is this anything we can do?

Yeah, look, lots of concerns. Lots of concerns about that from the veterans community. Now, VA has been clear. They have said there's one employee from the Department of Government Efficiency that is already working with VA, that they're only looking at contracts. They're not looking at sensitive veterans data. They have tried to react to that and to put out there. But...

You've seen what's happened with some of the allegations in other departments, other agencies. You know, there's just a worry that anything that is being done by the Department of Government Efficiency, is that going to be the extent? Could that very easily go into some of these, as you said, these sensitive personal medical data, benefits data, things like that? Folks just aren't sure.

So I think, you know, I think VA has tried to stamp that out. But what I'm hearing from the veterans community is we're watching closely. We're really worried about what might happen next.

I appreciate it. There's a lot to write right now, so we will keep at it.