Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins told Newsmax on Monday that his department will make whatever job cuts are necessary to fulfill its mission of taking care of the nation’s veterans despite criticisms from Democrats and federal employee union leaders.

In an editorial for The Hill last week, Collins signaled he wanted a 15% reduction in the VA’s civilian workforce, from 470,000 to about 398,000. But liberal Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Andy Kim, D-N.J., on Monday introduced legislation requiring the Trump administration to rehire any civilian employees who are veterans let go in President Donald Trump’s efforts to streamline the federal government. Similar legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Derek Tran, D-Calif.

Collins told “Rob Schmitt Tonight” that Trump was elected to bring generational change to Washington, D.C., believing that if something the size of the federal government isn’t working well, then it’s time to find better solutions.

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