Sen. King demands answers about latest round of Veterans Affairs cuts
Mar. 11—Sen. Angus King is demanding answers about the Department of Veterans Affairs' move to cut 585 contracted employees nationwide, and whether those contracts include critical jobs at the Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta.
Among other questions, King said he has been unable to find out if the cuts include a key radiation safety officer position at Togus. Cutting that position "may force Togus to close their radiology department," King said in the March 6 letter to Doug Collins, secretary of Veterans Affairs.
The topic is expected to come up during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs in Washington Tuesday. King, I-Maine, is a member of the VA committee, and several top VA administrators will be testifying.
In addition to the contract cuts, the VA secretary has called for widespread layoffs, with 80,000 job cuts expected by June among the 470,000 employees at the agency. The VA reductions are part of the Trump administration's sweeping efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce.
The decision to trim 585 contracted employees nationwide is separate from the seven firings of probationary employees that occurred at Togus in February. The elimination of seven positions — including a police dispatcher and a logistics worker — were part of an earlier round in the ongoing nationwide cutbacks at VA.
The VA initially announced in February that a total of 875 contracted positions would be eliminated. That list included Togus' radiation safety officer.
While the number of cuts has been reduced to 585 positions, the VA has not yet shared a list of the affected jobs. It's unknown whether the new list of 585 positions also includes the Augusta medical center's sole radiation safety officer,
"Hospitals like Togus are required by multiple state and federal regulations to have an RSO," King wrote. "The RSO is responsible for overseeing radiation safety programs."
King said the VA is not being forthcoming with information about cutbacks that could hamper the operations of VA services.
"Despite committing to transparency to Congress in your nomination process, your department has refused to answer even the most basic questions," King wrote to Collins.
The VA did not respond to the Press Herald's questions on Monday afternoon.
King and other members of Maine's congressional delegation, as well as some leaders of Maine veterans' groups, condemned the firings of seven employees at Togus last month.
The firings were "arbitrary and (made) without any strategic thinking," King said in a written statement at the time.
The seven included five military veterans, King said. They included at least one police dispatcher, a member of the veterans experience office and members of the logistics team, King said.
Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, said the VA firings, like others by the federal government, were "reckless" and "without clear justification."
Sen. Susan Collins said the people operating Togus know their needs better than those in Washington and should have been consulted before the cuts were announced.
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