VA pauses billions in cuts lauded by Musk as lawmakers and veterans decry loss of critical care

The Veteran Affairs cuts would affect everything from cancer care to the ability to assess toxic exposure.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs has temporarily suspended billions of dollars in planned contract cuts following concerns that the move would hurt critical veterans’ health services, lawmakers and veterans service organizations said Wednesday.

The pause affects hundreds of VA contracts that Secretary Doug Collins a day earlier described as simply consulting deals, whose cancellation would save $2 billion as the Trump administration works to slash costs across the federal government.

“No more paying consultants to do things like make Power Point slides and write meeting minutes!” Collins posted to X Tuesday, in a post that was then lauded by Elon Musk, President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting chief at the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

The Associated Press has obtained the full list of 875 affected contracts, which shows the cuts would affect everything from cancer care to the ability to assess toxic exposure. The list underscores how the Trump administration’s approach to broad spending reductions has immediate and potentially unintended consequences, generating significant concern not just among Democrats but also Republican lawmakers.

The VA said in a statement to the AP that its review of the contracts “is ongoing and not final.”