Wall of lies? V.A. reported fake cuts to DOGE while real pain hit veterans hard
Department of Veterans Affairs
hospitals, offering communion to the sick and last rites to the dying, as per a report. When he died in January at age 85, his contract naturally ended, but instead of honoring his service with respect, the V.A. reported his death as a cost-saving termination to DOGE, the Trump administration's cost-cutting task force, and posted it proudly on the 'Wall of Receipts,' a public record celebrating government spending cuts, as per a New York Times report. The agency claimed to save $98,700, the remaining four and a half years of Father Freeman's contract, according to the report.
Sister Mary Catherine Widger said he was there to provide solace and help veterans carry the heavy burden of guilt from wartime memories, as per the New York Times report. She pointed out that, 'He definitely didn't do it for the money,' as quoted in the New York Times report.
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How Did Pressure From DOGE Lead to Questionable Cost-Cutting?
Since January, the V.A. has submitted dozens of similar claims to DOGE, many of which don't hold up under scrutiny, according to the report. Contracts the agency claimed to have cancelled, like those providing veterans with prosthetic legs and wheelchairs, were still active, with vendors unaware of any termination, as reported by the New York Times. One contractor responsible for putting up fences around the New Orleans V.A. hospital during Mardi Gras was stunned to find his ongoing contract listed as cancelled, according to the report.
The rush to cut costs came with real consequences. Doug Collins, the V.A. secretary and a former Baptist minister and Air Force chaplain, embraced DOGE's mission early on, approving hundreds of cuts without full understanding of the impact, as per the New York Times report.
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Are Veterans' Services at Risk Because of These Cuts?
One top health official warned that many of the cuts threatened vital cancer research and suicide prevention programs, pleading with agency leaders to halt terminations, according to the report.
Despite the warnings, the V.A. initially cancelled over 350 contracts from DOGE's list, reported the New York Times. But many were later reinstated, even as the
Wall of Receipts
continued to list them as savings, according to the report.
Veterans' advocates like Randy Reese of Disabled American Veterans watched anxiously as the agency's efforts sometimes crossed 'red lines' that endangered care, as reported by the New York Times. Reese said, 'They can stick whatever they want on the blackboard, just as long as they don't hurt anyone's service, and don't hurt anyone's benefits,' as quoted in the report.
How Much Money Did the V.A. Actually Save?
Even as the agency reported millions in savings, an analysis showed many of these were inflated or inaccurate, according to the report. Some contracts were near expiration, some belonged to companies that had shut down, and others were ending contracts for reasons unrelated to DOGE, but the agency still posted those claims on its website, adding $6 million to V.A.'s savings, as reported by the New York Times.
The confusion extended to Congress, where officials struggled to track what had really been cut, with contract lists changing repeatedly, according to the report.
The V.A.'s misreporting made it difficult to measure DOGE's true impact. While the agency claimed nearly $6.7 billion in cuts, actual savings listed by May were closer to $736 million, and even that figure included questionable claims, as per the New York Times report. Senator Richard Blumenthal, frustrated by the inconsistencies, called the agency's behaviour 'either incompetent or disingenuous,' as quoted in the report.
FAQs
What is the Wall of Receipts?
It's DOGE's public website listing canceled contracts and calculated savings, essentially a scoreboard of its cost-cutting.
Were other V.A.
contract cancellations
real?
Many were not. The New York Times found numerous claims were false or misleading, involving services that were still active or contracts that had simply expired.
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