Doug Collins - United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs | SRS #187

Guys like me don't trust the VA. We just. don't. You're not going to be getting. your changed at the VA anymore. That's. not what our our services are for. And. everything that we're taking moneywise. away to that would take away from money. that I could be spending on something. else that are helping vets directly who. are not even getting primary healthcare. 480,000 VA employees and there are. 450,000 active duty army. That's 30,000. more than the active army members. I. hope you're taking this in. I am the guy.

you're trying to. [Music]. reach. Secretary Collins, welcome to the. show. Sean, glad to be here, bud. It's. an honor to have you here. So, uh, the. new Secretary of the VA. Yep. Lots of. stuff to work on. It's a what do we call. a target-rich environment? Yeah. Yeah. I'll bet it is probably even. more than I know. But um but um so we.

got a bunch of stuff to talk about. today. A whole lot of topics to cover, but I'm just How did how did uh. Secretary of the VA pop up on your. radar? Well, I think it come about a lot. of things. You know, the president and I. have known each other for a while. And. when I was in Congress for 8 years, especially those last few years, I was. in leadership and I had to uh was the. ranking member of the VA, not the VA. committee, but the uh judiciary. committee, which put me in close. proximity to the president because we. had to deal with the sham Russia stuff, we had to deal with the Mueller, we had. to deal with impeachment. And so uh he. and I got to know each other pretty well.

and you know, from my fighting, you. know, during those days to keep the. truth just out there about what we were. seeing. And so we just had developed a. closeness and we kept it up over the. time when he was out and when he started. campaigning again I would be out there. and I show up and and after a while. about a year or so ago he you know he he. said look I I think I think you need to. come with me and he just said you know. you know how if you've ever been around. him he just I just want you need to come. with me and this was a year out and I. said Mr. president. I said you I said. we'll just get you elected. We'll talk. about whatever you want to. And after. that happened, um we had some.

conversation of some other ideas that. was thought about, but then um I had. some ideas about this and it came about. and I said, you know, this this would be. a a a good spot. It takes my career, takes my passions and puts it in a. position that is, as most well know is a. politically sensitive uh department. because of Congress and and everybody on. the veteran thing. I said, I think we. can manage this because we're going to. have to make some change that actually. matters. And I said, "We're going to. have to work at it hard and I think we. can do that." So, uh, he he agreed. Brought me in. We discussed it for just.

a little while. And then I asked him. when he said, "You said, "You want to. do?" I said, "Yes, sir." He said, I. said, "What do you want me to to I said, what what do you want me to do, sir?". And he said, "Just take care of my. veterans." That was that was it. Nice. You don't tend to do that. You better. believe it. Perfect. Perfect. Well, before we get too far into the weeds. here, everybody gets a gift. All right. Even the secretary of the VA. All right. There we go. I love it. Vigilance League. gummy bears made in the US and uh. they're legal in all 50 states. You. don't have to worry about feeling weird. after you have those or anything. I love.

it. But um all right, so everybody gets. an introduction, too. So, all right. Doug Collins, Secretary of the VA. You. are the 12th Secretary of the Department. of Veterans Affairs, confirmed by the. Senate in February of 2025 to lead the. charge for our nation's veterans. You. earned a degree in political science and. criminal justice from the University of. North Georgia. You earned a master's. degree in divinity from New Orleans. Baptist Theological Seminary in pastored.

Chickap Chick Baptist Church for 11. years. In 2006, the people of Georgia's. 27th state house district elected you to. represent them. During your first term. in the state legislature, you graduated. from Atlanta's John Marshall Law School. and established your own legal practice. You were the US representative from. Georgia's 9inth Congressional District. from 2013 to 2021. You are a veteran who. served as a chaplain in the Air Force. Reserve, including a deployment to Iraq.

in 2008 with the 94th Airwing. You. remain a colonel in the Air Force. Reserve. You're a husband and a father. and most importantly a Christian. And. some of the things that you've already. done, you've already cut DEI programs. and shifted $14 million to VA healthcare. and caregiver support, set up telealth. and remote and and rural areas, changed. the flag policy to only American and P. flags and over 1 million dis disability.

claims in 2025 already. That's two week. faster than the normal that we've seen. Yep. So, what are some of the things that you. want to change about the VA? I have. right now the size and scope of the VA. I know your Doge adviser is here. somewhere today and uh so what what does. that look like? Yeah. Yeah. Well, he's. my he and the great part about it is. he's my VA employee who helps me with uh. liaison to them, which is a great thing. cuz we've incorporated uh the whole work.

of what I think the president's new. vision is into our organization in a way. that works with us and not against us. I. think that's one of the things that. there's this idea out there that, you. know, there's this ominous, you know, thing happening in DC. And the truth of. the matter is is no, we're I'm still the. secretary of VA. It comes through my. desk. We make decisions and mine will. always be for the veteran. And then you. know how that works out to our VA. employees. The where we're seeing the. most issue right now is is Sean and this. is something almost for any military.

person, anybody that wants to think. about it, the first thing when you come. into a branch or you come in anything, it's it's you're told about the culture. Okay, the culture is this. The culture. you will be a airman, you will be a you. know navy, you'll be a seal, you'll be a. whatever it is, you got the culture. Well, the only thing interesting is is. is in all fairness on that's culture is. at the end of the of the pipe. It's what. comes out of the pipe. It's what goes in. at the top that gives you culture. There's this idea somewhere that you out.

there that you all of a sudden, you. know, you can just pop up culture and. and that's just not true. You got to. have people and ideas at the top that. then permeate through the system sort of. like it just like you were eating. something and it comes out the other. end. Well, it comes out as culture. And. so really that's the first step for me. The first step is is developing a. culture that says we've done it this way. for so long. Is this still the right way. to do it? And that's, you know, look, I'm running against people who don't. want to change. I'm running against, you.

know, media, union bosses, members of. Congress and Senate who just, you know, they've put here's the problem. They've. invested so much in a system that's not. working that now it's hard for them to. admit maybe we need to do something. different. So, you know, all the things. we're going to talk about today is going. to come back to that culture issue. So, that's why I'm out here talking to you. That's why I've been on on social media, you know, Twitter, anything else I could. find to tell the truth. And I fought. back against um the lies. I'm not I. think the sum up my first five weeks is. you may have been able to be VA may have.

been a whipping post for a long time. Some of it, I'll agree with you, probably needed to be, but nobody's ever. stepped forward to fix it. So, here's my. thought to everybody. We're not going to. be your whipping uh post anymore. I'm. going to tell you the truth and I'm. going to give you the answers that we. need to do and I'm going to take care of. our veteran number one and I'm going to. make sure our VA employees the best that. we can. So, it's a lot goes into it. This culture that has to start at the. top and also has to filter down and buy. in. And that's what I'm fighting the. most right now. Yeah. You know,

I've got a whole slew of complaints. about the VA and um you know, it's. funny, but it's not. I mean, I haven't. stepped into a VA. I got 100%. Yeah. I. haven't stepped into a VA in almost 10. years because my experience has been. just atrocious. It was here's these. pills. We can't see you. I mean, I. remember just going to my uh I can't. even remember what they call the. appointments where you go in and you get. checked out. Yeah, the consultations I'm.

having doctors come to me. They don't. even know what a Navy Seal is. They're. asking me why I didn't go to medical. when I'm when I'm when I'm attached to a. FOB base. They don't understand what. combat is. My doctor shows up in a. sweatuit, barely even speaks any. English. And it's just time and time. again. And then if you know anything. about my show, it started with all. special ops combat veterans. And. everybody has the same complaints and. the same issues and and it it it is.

created. Look, I don't know any any one. of my friends and I am friends with the. top war fighters on the planet. Mhm. None of them have a good experience at. the VA. None of them have anything. positive to say about the VA. None of. them trust the VA. And that's why I quit. going. I mean, I have more friends that. have died of suicide and drug addiction. and depression and PTS and everybody's. struggling with especially the special.

operations guys with the with the. traumatic brain injuries and we just. aren't getting any answers at all from. the VA. And so, and and then it's just. created this distrust. So, what I do. with my check is I I buy my own. healthcare instead of use the VA because. I just I don't trust the system. I don't. like the system. I get treated like. when I go there. It's like like um it. it's like like I'm faking an injury or. something. And and so I just got to the. point where I just threw my hands up and.

I was like, man, this. I'm not. doing it. I'll I will I will personally. pay for my own health care on the. civilian side which is much much better. than anything I've ever had in the VA. And. so and then you see a lot of these. therapies and I want to dive into this. too but I. mean I'm just going to share my. experiences with you because I think you. need to know and I mean I just talked. about traumatic brain injury. I mean, these guys have been breaching doors.

with high explosives for 20 years. They. can't remember where the hell they are. They can't remember what they're doing. The short-term memory loss. They drive. somewhere. They're driving their kids. somewhere. They forget where the hell. they're going. They're they're they're. when I say they, I mean we, you know, we're temperamental. We're quick to fly. off the handle. There's chemical. imbalances. There's the burn pit. And now all these different I mean it's. across the board. I mean you're seeing.

all these nonprofits that are stood up. by veterans and they're they're they're. the ones that are actually taking care. of us. It's not the VA and psychedelic. therapy is one of the big ones uh that. that we've seen a tremendous amount of. benefit from especially with traumatic. brain injury. I mean, Stanford did a. study, fly these guys down, they they. they do a brain scan, they fly these. guys down to. Mexico, do an ibeane treatment, uh my. friend Trevor's, uh these ambulife.

sciences, there's all these black holes. in the brain, you know, uh on the brain. scan. They go down there where it's. where their brain's not working. They do. the ibane treatment, they fly them back. up to Stanford. Oh, magically, the. entire brain is lit up. I mean, here I. just want to I have to tell you some of. this stuff because it's important. One. of my one of my best friends of all. time, I've known him for probably at. least 15 years. We contracted at at um.

CIA together, retired Green Beret, sustained one of the biggest blasts I've. ever seen somebody walk out alive from. Uh massive traumatic brain injury. Then. he gets shot in the. head. His wife call. He's been hiding. this stuff. His wife calls me and she's. like, "Sean, he's bedridden 5 to 6 days. a week. He can't walk without a cane cuz. he has vertigo. He can't go outside even. on a cloudy day without his sunglasses.

because the light sensitivity is so bad. He can't We haven't had sex in over 2. years." He goes down there. Nobody can. help him. Nobody at the VA can help him. He goes down there. He does the Ibagane. treatment. He leaves his cane there at. the facility. He comes home, doesn't. need He doesn't need the cane anymore. Doesn't need the sunglasses. Is not. bedridden at all anymore. The all the. vertigo is gone. And then he goes home, has sex with his wife, and it's And that.

was probably 9 months ago. Same. It was like one week to fix that. And I don't even I don't know. I mean, like I said, I I haven't stepped foot in. the VA. I just gave up on it. Y but why. why aren't they looking at stuff like. that that actually works instead of. doing the same old Oh, here's some. pills. Here's this. Let's go do a brain. scan. Oh, we don't have any answers. And. it's it's it's discouraging. And you. know, that's not the only non that's.

vets um that I'm talking about veterans. exploring. I can't remember. It's vets, right? Vets.org. But but um treatment. solutions, but why isn't the VA getting I mean and. and then we have the the veteran suicide. epidemic and the numbers are all over. the board. They say 22 a day. I hear. reports that it's actually 40 a day when. you start looking at the the the. overdoses and stuff like that. I mean, so what's the plan here? Yeah. Well,

look, Sean, you've expressed as you were. doing there, what you're seeing with. your friends, you're seeing with. everybody else. And I think it's it's. the battle we face. Okay. When I was in Congress, we'd have. I think the interesting part, and this. is one of the things I told all the the. senators, especially when we're going. through confirmation, which I had to go. through to get this. I said 60% of your. uh constituent calls, in other words, 60% of the calls to your office for help. in some way involve the VA, either VHA, our health benefits, or their regular or. their other benefits, disability.

benefits, other things like that. 60%. Some of them looked at me like, "No.". And it was interesting. The staff would. be sitting in in the side going 60% of. what? 60% of all their calls. So like a. phone call to a congressman or a. senator. I need I'm having trouble. 60%. Okay. And that's and some would actually. be higher, some actually maybe a little. lower. So just average out around 60%. Like I said, some of the members were. like, "Uh, I don't know." But yet their. staff will sit there and say, "Yeah, it. is. It is." Cuz they hear it all the.

time. Think about that for a second. Let's. just ponder for just one. second that that many people and we're. talking thousands with each congressman, each uh senator a year calling about a. organization that is supposed to be. already set up to give them what they. have earned to give them the benefits. that they have earned through Congress. action. This is none just dreamed up by. a president. This is all from statutory,

you know, law. But yet having to call. them because they can't get the help. they need. Only in Washington DC do we. call that normal. Only in Washington DC. do we call that okay. I call it failure. And I've called that out since the day. that I got sworn in. That we're not. going to allow anymore. This discussion. that it's okay to have to call for what. you should be getting already. Now, if. you don't want it, don't take it. go. other way. That's why we have choices.

That's why we have other things to do. But when it gets into the stuff that. you're talking about, this is goes back. to that culture argument that I was. talking about to start with. It gets. into the situation where we've just sort. of done it this way. We and and the. argument at the VA is well, everybody. complains. Everybody does rightfully so. Even if they're new employees, they get. well the VA is. awful. And there's been a lot of. problems and probably and a lot of stuff. to back that up. I'm not going to. disagree with you, but there's also a. lot of times when you got the ones who. are trying to do it are getting bogged.

down in the people trying to get in a. system that is broken. So, it'd be like. me. I I do a lot of counseling. I have. for years, of course, when I was. pastoring in a chapel and everything. else, all I coun. And if you in a. relationship, the relationship starts. say with with a man, you know, husband. and wife and they members don't matter. if they're military or not, but if they. have a relationship and they have a. issue in which one does not trust the. other and you come into that position, then they they've now developed into a. problem where they don't talk, they're. fighting, they're, you know, maybe going.

to get divorced or breaking up, whatever. And then I walk into the room. and I say, "I want to help you, but the. only thing that I can give you, the one. thing you got to have to fix the. relationship is the one thing that's. broken. To fix a relationship, you got. to have trust. If you can't have trust, you're not going to fix a relationship. You can smooth it. You can paste it. over. You can do whatever you want to. do, but you got to have trust." In the. VA, we're similar situation in a sense. that people have for so long said, I. have to do it by this prescribed method, by this prescribed way, or there's going.

to be a congressional person, you know, say something or do something, or I'm. going to get complained about, or we're. going to do this, or the union says we. got to keep your job, so you just keep. doing whatever you're doing. We'll. protect your job and go forward. So when it comes to new. ideas, there's, you know, there's some. good things that you were there to hear. about, but when it comes to ideas such. as you're talking about with a new. generation of of war fighter, this new. generation of war fighter doesn't come. that they're starting to come to the VA.

if they have issues of prosthetics, they. have issues of, you know, they've lost. limbs, they've done stuff like that. Um, because there's some of that we do. probably as well, if not better, than. most anywhere you're going to find. But. when it comes to other areas like the. traumatic brain injury to like the. issues of uh sleep deprivation, the. issues of addictions, those things, we're stuck in a system that is not. allowing. Now, in the Bronx, there's a. clinical study on psychedelics that. we've actually uh been a part of and. it's working. We're seeing, you know, tremendous change. Bobby Kennedy, who's.

now the new HHS secret sector, Health. and Human Services Secretary, he and I. sat in my office two weeks ago and. talked about this very issue and how do. we get it incorporated in some of it. we're bound because we're actually a. healthc care actually hospital. healthcare organization. We're bound by. some of the laws that Congress has made. that have have bound us into what we can. use and what we can't use. Um, I'll use. a big example there is marijuana. Marijuana's always been a a fight. treatment, you know, in some areas and. you've had a lot of Congre, you know, congressman say, "We're not going to do.

that. We're going to keep it where it's. at." And so that it binds us a little. bit. But in one of the areas I'm looking. at to get what you're talking about is a. number of years ago, Donald Trump. actually promoted a thing called right. to try. Mhm. It was legislation in which. if you were dying, if you had other. issues, why not let you try something? What are we hurting here? you know, and. and if it works, then it's a miracle and. we're good. We're actually exploring. right now among the many things that I'm. shoveling as fast as my shovel can. shovel is to see is there ways under.

right to try that we can expand some of. those programs right now into. psychedelics into others treatments you. know from uh range from hyperaric to. everything else that says is this. working you know is it working how do we. expand it out we know from case like. what you just talked about that it is. working we know from experience that in. some people this is this is you know a. dead-on treatment for what they need. But I've got to get a mindset change. that says, and this is what I'm facing.

almost all the time, is well, you can do that, but there's a. risk, Sean. Getting up out of bed in the. morning and going to the bathroom and. taking a shower is a risk. I'm going to. fall and bust my head and die. That's a. risk. Getting up and walking in get in a. car is a risk. I want us to help the. people who need help. But then there's. also another generational issue we're. having right now. And the generational. issue is something that's going to be a. little bit harder for me to tackle. because it's not just the VA.

assimilating itself to the the younger. war fighter, the GWAT fighter, my. generation fighter, your generation. fighter who are not joiners. We don't. join Kuanas. We don't join Rotary. We. don't join, you know, for most of this. generation. They don't join the BFW. They don't join American Legion. They. don't do those things. They go with. their buddies. They they're drawn to. nonprofits who are actually doing. something on 10% margins instead of the. opposite way around. 90% of what they do. is going to fixing something instead of. 90% going to fix the organization. 10%.

may be helping. These are kind of things. that we got to deal with. So now I've. got to get them back just like you to. say how what can I do inside the VA to. make enough change that I get that I can. get another shot that I can get another. shot to say look if you want the care. here fine but if not we're going to pay. for it in the community. See that's. another issue that that the previous. administration the last four years have. been horrific for expansion of care. which Donald Trump promoted in his first.

term and I voted for when I was in. Congress. They just went away from it. Sean. They because it's a mindset. You've got to understand the mindset of. the BA and the mindset that the Biden. administration and the previous. administration spent tens of billions of. dollars, well over hundred billion and. tens of thousands employees, well over. 50,000 in the last four years. alone. Four years. And you know what? Our metrics have either just stopped or. they've actually went backwards. So all. these people that are screaming, you.

know, that, you know, you can't cut. anybody, you can't change it. Well, you've tried that now for for the past. 10 years. And you know what? GAO says, Government Accounting Office has said, you're on the high risk list. VA has. been on the high risk danger list of. fraud and abuse and poor quality. healthcare in many of our facilities for. 10. years. That's just unacceptable. But yet. if I but yet the past three or four. weeks, if you've watched any of the. headlines, I'm being skewered and.

pillared by some of our VSO community. and some of our uh members of the Senate. and the House that you're you can't. change. You're going to you're going to. hurt uh weight times. You're going to. hurt. You've done that already. Our. weight times are not where they need to. be. Our backlog is too high. It was uh. it was under 60,000 when Trump left. office. is over 225,000 now. And that's. with all the numbers I just told you. This is just bull crap. Okay? We can't. keep doing the same thing the same way.

So really, what those folks on the hill. and some of those outside agencies and. groups are saying is the VA, oh yeah, we. know it's bad and you just got to keep. throwing stuff at it because it protects. our jobs, protects our workers, and. protects this system. Part of the reason I do what I do is for. my family. I want to leave them a better. country than the one I was born into. I. also want to make sure they are taken. care of financially. And that's why I. make it a priority to help protect the.

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about veterans. They only give a. about the VA. And not not that the. VA is actually doing its job, but I. mean, I've got a stat written down here. for there are. 480,000 VA employees and there are. 450,000 active duty army. Yeah, it's. about right. how and and. veterans all over the country have been. dying waiting to get treatment, commit.

suicide, dying, you know, cuz they they. can't get So with four with. 480,000 VA, that's 30,000 more than the. active army members. How how can't they. why can't they get in or why couldn't. they get in? Well, because a lot of it. think about that organizational. structure. Where is most of that. organizational structure going? You. know, I've been told since, you know, we. started the confirmation process and we. started asking these questions. Well, PACt Act did this. Pact forced us, you.

know, and by the way, that was Biden. thought of it at State of the Union a. few months acted it, not really thinking. about cost. And by the way, when the. House and Senate, I speak hill because I. was up there for a long time. Here's. what you do. You want to make somebody. think you're doing something. You pass a. bill. You leave a lot of the stuff in. the middle either unfunded or. open-ended. You get the president to. sign it and then you declare a. victory. Never mind going to the actual. agency that's going to have to to to do. this and give them in help and.

instructions on how to make it happen. But I was told that was why is why the. monies and everything increased so much. Well, I've asked where are these where. are these employees that were hired for. for Packpack? I mean, if we've hired all. these employees to do P, where are they. at? And only get oneoff answers like, well, we've had to do some here. We. can't. All right. I come here to share. the truth. I I I'm I'm just not BSing. anymore. I I just can't I I don't know. whatever. But I can't tell. you where all 480,000 of those people.

are. I can't tell you. Now, here's the. interesting issue. You were in the uh. military. You were in the SE team. You. know, if you went to your uh commander. or you went to your uh headquarters. headship, they could actually look down. a list. They could pull every base. They. could pull every unit. They could pull. everything and by the line item tell you. who was assigned where and what their. billet number was, what their pass. number was, and everything else. You. would know exactly where they're at. I. do not have an HR system that allows me. easily to do that. Think about that for.

a second. Let that sink in when all. these other issues we're talking about. is out there. So, I can't even at this point I'm. working on it. That's been one thing. we're I've already hit the ground. running. I've got some people that are. helping. We're going to try and fix that. pretty quick because if I don't know. where they are, then this organization. is functionally uh not ready for for. action. It's just not. And you got a lot. of things we I mean, we've had. organizational structure at the you. know, cutting bureaucracy at the in the.

in management level in Washington and. across the the the planes is going to be. something was one of the first looks. we're going to be. I don't need six. people. I mean, it'd be like I'm I'm. trying to put this in maybe ways that. your guys and folk and gals would. understand who watch this podcast and. listen. It would be almost like having. in one. unit having six from Air Force having. six uh shirts in one unit. Which one do. you go to? Who answers to who? And then. also having two or three chiefs above.

the six shirts to say, "Well, go get. that approved. Go get that approved. Go. get that approved. go get that. Oh, and. then by the way, we'll have to go find. the uh we get the wing commander to sign. off. So from an air force potato, it's. just bureaucracy layers. Some of these. were started for real reasons, you know, that hey, we need to manage our our like. centralized vision care, which is these. our bishop division, but they were. supposed to have 20 and 30 people. Now. some of them have three and four and. 500. they just grow for the sake of. growing but not nobody has called it.

like I'm trying to call it now in a real. sense of a way is to say what is our. return on investment are we helping a. veteran is the veteran being helped not. a press release from the hill not a bill. that says you think you're doing. something but are we actually doing. stuff that allows the veteran choice by. the way the mission act what we talked. about is to let you go out in the. community we're going to pay for that. because you've earned the benefit we're. going to make it to where you can go out. into the community and get the care you. need. But yet over the last previous.

administration, there was we have. documented it. We're going to be rolling. out more of this where we saw basically. an a turn toward deincentivizing and. actually keeping veterans from getting. the care they need, even if it meant. waiting longer. Sean, this is this is. this the more I dig, the worse it gets. and we're just we're right now making. sure that we're starting to get out so. that we can have a whole new culture. shift to help the people we're supposed. to be helping. How is that going to. work? How's it going to how do how do.

how do I do that? How do I use the VA to. pay for my community healthcare in the. civilian market? If you meet if you meet. certain criteria like distance and time, especially what it was designed for is. especially those who are away from a VA. health clinic or via or or a center that. uh where they can get it quickly. what. they can do is you is a real simple. checklist to see you know do you qualify. that you and most you do in different. areas especially specialty care and then. you the here's where I don't like some. of this and I've not liked it for years.

one we have a third party administrator. which we're actually looking at anytime. you put another third party anything in. there it tends to to bog the system. they're supposed to be finding community. doctors they're supposed to be finding. the system where we send them to um the. VA technically still has a sign off. right now where you see a VA dot and the. doctor said, "Yep, we we agree." And. then he sent them. That's becoming a. little bit of a problem because we're. seeing we've seen some issues in which. the referrals were not happening. Okay. So, again, I'm I'm digging into this. It's not everybody, but I'm seeing it.

enough to develop a pattern here. You. see it, you know, randomly, you might. think, "No, but when you start seeing it. enough, there's a pattern the of of what. I call abuse of the law, basically." So, you get that and then you go and then, you know, it's turned in. It's paid for. just as if you were going to, you know, through the VA system itself. So these. are out there. These part had been there. with mission act gave that. It expanded. that. But you got to also use it. I mean. I can give you the best rifle in the. world but if you don't know if you don't. use it it's just useless to you. Well I.

think a lot of I think a lot of people. don't know how to use the VA system. I'm. one of them. Yeah. I mean, and I want to. get into this later, but I mean, even. even just to get the the initial to get. the benefits to go through the the. doctor's appointments to, you know, oh, my shoulder's messed up, I got tonitis, I got TBI, whatever. All those what do. they call those? The initial. appointments, the consults. Yeah. Consults. Yeah. You know, a lot of vets, they don't even know how to get into the. consults or then you get in the consults.

and it's almost like a damn. interrogation and it's like like I'll. give you an example. They denied my. tenitis, dude. I'm a Navy Seal. I shot a. lot of guns. I blew a lot of up. I've seen a lot of combat. I have. tonitis. Sorry, lady. I don't. know like what the hell you're talking. about. You can't even test for that. Just give me the tonitis. Look at my. service record. They deny it, you know. And then I got to go find Well, then I. got introduced to this woman, Peggy.

Matthews, Veterans Advocacy Services. She's like probably 80 years old, runs. it is is like an angel to me and my guys. because she's the one that can take our. package, turn it into something, and. somehow someway she gets it fasttracked. through the VA. But for us to like try. to navigate Yeah. the Veterans. Administration, it's it's impossible. Why should we have that, Sean? Think. about that. That's what I'm asking. Yeah. Well, and but I'm also bringing it.

back. Is someone, you know, look, I what. I you looking ahead in five weeks of. sitting here doing this job. I I have. been seeing the exact same asking the. exact same questions and say why is it. you have to have a VA whisperer so to. speak to to get what should be honestly. yours to state and and to to take part. in. Okay, you're exactly right. I mean. right now as we look at this, this is. the concern that a lot of us are having. But how many government agencies are. like this? Think about it. You're.

supposed to pay your taxes. I'll just. use another the IRS. You're supposed to. pay your taxes. But yet you call the the. IRS uh hotline and they can't answer. your questions. The very ones who will. put you in jail for not paying your. taxes can't answer some of your basic. questions about how to file your taxes. Well, as we get into the the process of. the VA and we and I was just with a. local vet center here and one of the. things I asked him, I said, "Tell me. something. Let start telling me getting.

up to me. Tell me things that hinder. veterans from getting the benefits or or. being a part of this system. Tell me. what in our paperwork process, what in. our our our setup is causing us. problems. Because here's what we are. seeing. though to those unlike some experiences. you've had, especially a number of years. ago. But what we're seeing today, there's been an improvement is that once. they can get through the system, we're. seeing general satisfaction rating among. veterans of different generations. saying, "Okay, this may not be, you.

know, they like the care. They may not. be what I want. It may not be for. everybody, but 80 90%, you know, saying, "Hey, this is this is okay. I'm getting. what I need or the benefits they're. getting their package, but getting to it. has been our problem." getting us. through that front. line to say this is an agency that that. is open. Look, I I don't have my phone. with me right now, but if I had my phone. with me right now, I bet your private. insurance. I know my I know my. healthcare with my wife who I've been on. state health in Georgia forever. I can. right now pull up on my phone all my.

prescriptions, my doctor's appointments. I could talk to my doctor if I wanted. to. We don't have that. We Why is the. large And here's the other thing. We're. the largest health care system in the. country by far. By far. Now, there's a. couple of privates that like to say. they're closed. I have 170 hospitals, over almost 1,500 clinic sein. And. that's not counting the mobile stuff we. do and everything else. That's how. massive this organization is. Okay? And.

they've all run on siloed issues. I. heard an issue today that was about, you. know, just simple things as. transportation. Well, and when the they. were asked for help, they said, "Well, that's not a VHA issue, which is our. health side. That's a VBA issue, which. is our benefit side." Well, I'm here to. say I'm the secretary of all of you. We're going to start acting like we're. one company and not three companies. working in the middle. And we got to and. but again, Congress is has facilitated. this. Some prior administrations have. facilitated this because here's the.

thing, Sean. How many times do you run. across somebody who wasn't a. veteran and especially in public life if. they're not a veteran and they run for. office there, it's hard for them to have. honest questions to a veteran or to. veteran service organizations which may. or may not have the interest that they. need to be promoting or another. organization and they say, "Well, and I. had a gentleman on the floor of the. house one. time and good friend, good guy, never. served.

And there was a an issue on the floor. and it was wrong. It was just wrong. I. mean, we should be doing it differently. Okay? There's a budget item. And I said, you know, and I went to this person and. I said, cuz they're very vocal. I said, you know, this is wrong. We shouldn't be. doing it this way. This should go into. the budget. It shouldn't be done. separately. This is the way we should be. done. And I'll never forget, it just it. just floored. me. The person looked at me and he said, "Doug, I know that." He said, "But I'm.

not a veteran." And he said, "I can't. have somebody attacking me as being back. as being uh against. veterans." Sean, think about what he. just. said. He was willing to make a bad. vote because he was scared of the. political fallout of being seen as. against veterans. We've seen this consistently with policy. that comes out of Congress for the VA.

We've seen it consistently in situations. where the VA, they will pass budgets and. then complain about it cuz that's the. way you do it. We have veteran service. organizations that that honestly at. times seem more at war with. me and the VA than they do their. membership. Now, they're good people. I'm not trying to throw them under the. bus. That's not what I'm trying to say. here. But if if your only way that you. satisfy your membership is to say, "We. fought the VA and won.".

Huh? We're on the same pa. We're. supposed to be on the same page here. We're trying to help veterans, too. But. we can't have adversarial roles to fix. the problems that you're talking about. because when we do that, we're just. simply going in. circles. It's got to be an all-in. approach. Lord. willing, Donald Trump's here. I know. I've got hopefully four years to do. this, but I really got 18 months. My. mission is about 18 months to get in to. start making the transformational.

process to take the generational change. that Donald Trump said he was going to. bring to DC and I saw him just the other. day. He I mean we he and I talked last. Friday and and he said he said what. about my you know and he brought up the. community care. He brought up our folks. being able to go out and get the choices. they need and I said sir we're working. on it. I said but I got some problems. We're going I need your help. He said, "No, whatever we do, we'll we'll take. care of it." But these are the kind of. generational change we got to have. And. so now, one of the things we're. experiencing is you mentioned how much. we have. Well, we've had a across the. board a reduction in force is what it's.

called. A riff. Now, the interesting. thing is the the legacy media, liberal. media, the unions are all going nuts. How can you cut this money out of the. federal government? The federal. government will never survive if we cut. 15% out of the workforce. Well, Bill. Clinton and Al Gore in the 90s cut 13 to. 14% 12 to 14% out of the federal. government. Several hundred,000. jobs. Nobody griped. And by the way, we're still 20 something years in the. future, almost 30. The government not.

only survived, it got bigger again. So, what we're looking at now is how do we. do this and we go into systems that are. broken and take out the the the layers. that don't need to be there, the things. that are keeping veterans from getting. the benefits they need that they've. earned, keeping them from health care, keeping them from going into the. community and getting the care that they. need, getting access to to new. treatments like psychedelics or other. things. We need to get that that funding. that's been there to fund positions and. worry about funding veterans health care. and worrying about funding veterans.

benefits. If we can do. that, then we've got a chance. But what. we've got right now is a system and I. have actually some Republicans and. Democrats and some other organizations. that are simply saying who will look on. their own web pages or websites and. their statements. The VA is too much. wait time, too long to do this and. broken. But yet I've I've seen quotes. and tweets. Secretary Collins needs to. be careful on how he does the, you know, reorganization of the VA. It needs to to.

be more structured and more or don't or. or better yet, some act said we don't. need to get rid of anybody at the VA. What that's basically saying is for 10. years, GAO has said we're on high risk. That we can't get rid of bad employees. By the way, did you know that when we. had the president signed the Bill. Accountability Act back at the end of. his term and we fired there was almost. 4,000 people fired at the VA for stuff. like showing up drunk in the O, doing. other things. We fired them. Guess what?

The. union and others had lawsuits and when. Donald Trump left office, basically the. Biden administration through some series. of of bad judgment just basically quit. and said, "We'll bring them all back and. give them back pay whether they came. back or. not." This is the kind of problem we're. dealing with, Sean. It's not an easy. just get your, you know, head out of. your rear system. We've got to actually. make structural changes so that number.

one, we can get rid of the bad, hire. good, and put a culture in that the. veteran is first. I've said it every day. I have been in this office, and I've not. taken a day off really yet. So, how do you plan on how do you plan. on leaning that process out for these. guys to get benefits? It's going to be. the Here's where we're starting right. now. We're starting a process using. career employees, others in the system. to say, okay, where because we're under. this to to mandate to get the the fat. out and then we can use that money to.

redirect. We're already redirecting over. $500 million right now that's in the. process being redirected towards. suicide, which by the way, I want to. talk about you need to hear what's going. on there and you're not going to like. it, but I you need to hear homelessness. the same way. We're redirecting that. toward prosthetic care. We're. redirecting toward community care. We're. redirecting that money. All that money. that was sitting out here that was, you. know, for PowerPoint and meeting notes. kind of stuff that we were doing is now. going back to the to the veteran itself. We're going to have to as we go through.

looking for this reduction in force, we're going to take out folks that are. not forward- facing when it comes to. veterans health. In other words, um it's. amazing to me. I don't know if you read. just recently the paper, we let 2400. people go about two weeks ago, 3 weeks. ago, and all of a sudden, Wall Street. Journal, New York Times, all the legacy. media, The Hill, uh Senators, and. others, union members. Collins is. killing healthcare. Collins is gutting. the VA. Collins is is calling. And then. they'll say, well, and they'll find. somebody who said they had their surgery.

that was was put off or that their. appointment was rescheduled. None of the people, the people we fired. were publicists, interior designers, laborers. I mean, this is what we're. talking about here. How has your surgery. been put off because an interior. designer was laid off? It wasn't. It's a. lie. But what we have is, you know. what's interesting though? If you'd have. gone back to January 15th of this year. and that same surge been put off, it. would have never made a headline. Yep. Because now we're doing something. So. now we just got to start trimming those.

out. Forward facing with the healthcare. with our benefit side are not that's not. the areas we're looking at. We're. looking at I think somebody told me the. other day, think about this. We have. almost 16,000 contract agents. Contractors. All they do is contracts. 16,000. Really? Let's take a look and. see if we need 16,000 contract agent. Let's see if we need five and six levels. of bureaucracy. in some of these uh situations and.

instead take those money, redirect it. back to where it needs to go. Then. you're going to be able to get, you. know, quicker access. Then you're going. to be able to cut, oh, by the way, I'm. also going to look at, you know, if we. can, if there's 10 sheets of paper for. you to get in, let's see if we can do. that with four sheets of paper. Let's. see if we can ask better questions and. get better. results. Let's talk about the suicide. instead. What do you want to say about that?

Um, whatever we have been doing for the. last 5 years, for whatever good there. was, and there's been some, explain to. me how in the past 5 years, six years of. budgets, we spent approximately $15. billion, and the number is is basically. unchanged. We spent $588 million 588. million on preventive supposed suicide. We spend 2.3 billion in what we'll call. treatment of either the mental aspect.

has health aspect that you know issues. that they've had with hurting themselves. other things like it 2.3 billion so $3. billion total roughly in suicide and yet. our numbers are not changing Sean we go. from a low of about 63 6400 up to almost. 7,000 a year now you made mention. earlier of what's the real number that's. that's an arguable debate and I'veard. heard this, you know, from others. It it. actually may be 25, 30, um, depending on.

how you classify overdose and how you or. also, frankly, in rural communities. I. grew up in a rural community. Suicide is. something you don't talk about. And you. get you get some of these medical. examiners and corners in these smaller. counties, you know, they may not they. they'll call it accidental or something. else. So, we may not know because it's. just that stigma of of suicide that's. attached. So, what I'm looking at here is is. what's actually working. What we're. doing, frankly, in just all fairness, ain't working. You can't do that much. this long and say it's working. So, what.

we're trying to do now, and what I'm. beginning to do, is I want to know why. that 588 million is going for. I want to. know what are we supposedly doing to And. don't just tell me you're putting a a. Facebook ad out there. Don't tell me. that you're, you know, running, you. know, the call the crisis line number. out there, you know, which are all fine. and and good, but where are we at. actually hitting to the members who are. listening to your podcast who have no. want to to go to the VA? Because here's.

the other part of that, whether the. number 17 or the number is 24 or even. higher, the statistics are pretty good. that say that 50% of those folks have. never been touched by the VA. 50%. That's just. unacceptable. So, my one of the things. I'm starting and starting right here. with you, I'm starting with other uh. things that we're going to be doing. I'm. trying to reach that veteran who's. sitting out there who's saying, you.

know, screw the VA. I went over there. one time, they didn't even treat me like. I was human or they or that was their. perception. You know, look, everybody's. got a perception. And you know, that may. be your perception. He wasn't treated. well. It may have been a bad day for. them, bad day for you. But then they're. sitting in there in their home and. they're. self-medicating or they're, you know, going off doing destructive things, they're going to end up toward the point. where they don't see a reason to go on. Mhm. But if they listen to your podcast, they listen. I'm going to sit here and. say, "Look, folks, you know, let's get.

help. Let me send send somebody. Go to. an organization you trust. Call your. battle buddy. Call your airman. Call. your wingman. Whoever it is." We got to. get out of this stigma that is that we. don't touch people that are saying they. have problems. I mean, think about your. friend that you just talked about. He's. not going to run out in the front yard. and say, "Hey, I'm I'm really not able. to function today." They're not going to. do that. But we got to find them. We got. to hit ways that people like his wife. and others have the ability to reach out. to somebody and say, "Here's real ways. we can help." And get back to the simple.

fact of, "Hey, are we actually treating. this as what it is?" And that is a. serious condition brought on many times. by things that were out of their control. or what they saw or what they. didn't. I was in Nashville today at uh. National Songwriters Association. Some. folks I've known for years who write. country music. They write songs all over. the the world for for stuff you hear on. radio all the time. And there's a a. couple organization that work with. veterans, American Song. There's some.

others where they get veterans together. and who have had years of not being able. to express themselves, not being able, they feel isolated and they get them. down, they start talking with other. veterans and they start writing a song. They say, "Write a song." And it and. they show them and talk to them about. how to do. that. I had a veteran today who told me. he. said, been married 50some years. He. said, 'I was in. Vietnam. He said, 'I never my wife never.

hardly knew anything about what. happened. He said, 'I just, he said, I. just didn't talk about it. And he said, 10 years ago, somebody finally got to me. and he said, I sat down and I wrote this. song. He said, and it was not the song. itself, it's the it's the action of. putting it on paper. And he says, now. I'm able to talk to her. I'm able to. release that. There's another gentleman. there. This is a Vietnam vet. There's. another gentleman there who. again is his kids and you know the. saying how how many times people want to. say tell me a war story Sean tell me.

tell me what you did tell me what's cool. this guy was saying he said he didn't. want to talk about it and his kids would. ask him about what granddad dad what are. you doing and he couldn't talk about it. he got in this position in a power of a. song where he wrote. down what happened to him at. Tet way back when when he saw his. buddies burned up in. tank. When he saw that and you could see. it as if it was today in his eyes, but.

then he was able to say, "If you want to. know it, then listen to this song. Listen to the words that I wrote down.". That's a totally different way to look. at this stuff. We've got to reach the. veteran where they are. And if it's. hunting, let's take them, you know, let's let's match them with a with. somebody that that can talk to them and. get them out on a a duck blind somewhere. or get them out in the field. If they. can't, if they want to do exercise, let. them do that. or if they just want to. sit and get coffee or they want to, you. know, go have a beer, do something. instead of just funding $588 million on.

programming. Let's see if our program is. actually being effective. I'm just not. going to sit here. I may do a lot of. things right and a lot of things wrong. in the next few years, but I will tell. you this. I will not sit here for the. next four years and spend that amount of. money and do the same damn thing. I'm. just not going to do. it. How will you know if it's working? I'm going to see if my numbers go down. I'm going to see how many people are. responding. I'm going to see if we're. reaching people that we've not reached. before. Because if we're starting to. touch them, then we're going to start. seeing them in into our systems in our.

I'm looking to use nonprofits. By the. way, I'm non-discriminatory here. I. don't care if they they come to the VA. or not. I want them to come to the VA. cuz we got resources to help. But if. they're willing to go to a nonprofit. somewhere, if they're willing to go down. to their church somewhere, but they. heard about it from this weird guy from. Georgia who happens to be the secretary. of VA to say, "Go get help. It's okay.". Then we're going to see our communities. put back together better. We're going to. see people and families come back. together. You're going to hear it from. your buddies. I'm going to hear it from. mine. Because those. people, we hear about them, but they're.

not getting help that they need because. it's so quiet. I'll use an example for. you. My daughter has spobifa. She was. born, she's 32 years old now. If she. were to come in here and she roll in her. little chair, she would she'll knock. socks off of she's got a smile. She. she's never walked down in her life. I. mean, you know, I've watched her not. experience quote normal, you know, going. on dates and getting married, all that. I just, you know, I've watched it. Broke.

my heart for her. She just gets up and. goes every day. She goes to work 5 days. a week. She works at a hospital. But if. he were to come in here or we would take. her over here to the mall, people would. come up to her and they'd feel sorry for. her. They'd try to help her. They'd try. to open a door. They're trying to, you. know, help her get to what she. needs. But if I was to stand up in that. same. mall and say, "Folks, I don't know. what's wrong, but my mind's. broke." We don't we don't look to open a.

door for that person. We don't look to. to run to them. Too much in our time is. we're moving away from them. We've got. to change the whole scenario here, especially in the VA and our veteran. community for for brothers and sisters. who we served with. They've got to know. it's okay. You're not going. to be wrong in reaching out and giving. somebody some help. And the person who. needs the help needs to see somebody. willing to sort of run the mile with. them. If we can get that, that's how I'm.

going to see results. That's how I'm. going to see bottom line. That's how I'm. going to see that our vet centers are. getting some maybe some more people or. I'm going to hear it in the community. I'm going to see it in our judges who. are actually seeing these people in. front of. them because they've crashed their car. while they were drunk. They they've. gotten into a domestic violence. situation because they didn't know who. they were hitting and they were hitting. their own. kid. This isn't playtime anymore for me, Sean. We've got to seriously deal with. this in this country and we got to deal. with our veterans. So, for me, that's.

the way I'm going to hopefully see it. play out. Did I hear you say that you. planned on using nonprofits to help? Yes, I'll use anybody that's willing to. help. I'll use anybody willing to help. If that's a VSO, one of the big six VSOs. or any of the other, if they're willing. to get in the game and help and try new. ways, I'm I'm ready to help. I'm ready. to use nonprofits. I'm ready to use. somebody that's willing to come in and. we'll we'll work the barriers and we'll. do whatever it takes to get there. Because here's the situation. We're looking at a generation that's.

that is not functioning the way we did. 20 years ago, even 10, 15 years ago, because they're more influencer driven, they're more socially uh media driven, they're more uh you know, we just saw. that in the last presidential election. that the Donald Trump won because he. reached voters who nobody were going. after. He was speaking to them in. platforms that they had never been they. had never heard before. So, why would I. not use things like this or or or.

nonprofits who are, you know, uh and I. could name the many, but I wouldn't want. to forget anybody. I mean, you got all a. lot of them out there that are putting. good money to the actual end, putting, you know, lead on the target, so to. speak, downrange, and they're using very. little of it for administrative. cost and and we don't do that. So, if. you've got organizations that are have. always been doing it, they want to try. new ways, I'm all for it. But you've. also got to be willing to get in and dig. a little bit and know that you don't. always have all the answers.

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ExpressVPN.com/srs. I mean, as far as. care and some of these other treatments. that we're talking about, I mean, is. there any way that the VA can partner. with somebody other. than other than I don't know who you. guys partner with, the American Legion? We we we listed a whole bunch of them. that the modern-day war fighter veteran. does not use anymore. They're all using. we are all using mom and pop nonprofits.

So, I brought up, you know, how are you. guys going to get how how are you going. to get people into the VA system or and. get them to their to their initial. appointments where where. where they get their disability? Yep. Is it going to be It sounds like it's. going to be very bureaucratic and hard. to push through. So, is is there a way. to get nonprofits. like Veterans Advocacy Services. some type of a grant or give the.

veterans some type to where they can. they can Hey, Peggy knows the system. Yeah. She can get guys through. She can. help guys through. she can I mean. is there a way that the VA can partner. with these smaller mom and pop. organizations and fund them so that they. can get a bigger team and and and and to. get more vets push through. Yeah. I look. and I think one of the things here is is. that you doing that in such a way that.

encourages good you know work. Now look, some of our VSOs, they offer, you know, free help, we'll get you through. And. I'm not criticizing that in a situation, but many times they're willing to go. through a situation. Why are we having. to use so much help? I I'm actually. attaching it, hopefully attacking it at. a different end. Why do we need, as I. said earlier, the the VA whisper? Why. can't we do this easier? But until then, until then, yeah, I I mean, I'll look at.

any way I can to help organizations that. are helping veterans get the the. services they need without having to. join an organization, without having to. do anything else, just get what they. have have earned. And also, I can tell. you why. Okay? Because it's like I. mentioned before, nobody trusts the VA. When they go to somebody like Peggy, she's like a protector. Mhm. guys like me, guy, just about everybody. that's been on the show that's been to. work, they trust her. They know that. she's going to protect them through that.

process. They know that if if something. goes bad, Peggy's got it. You know what. I mean? That's why that's happening. Yeah. And that's where we got to start. rebuilding trust in a system that. has for I can't explain this enough. The frustration I. have with a lot a lot of people out that. 480,000 there's there's many many many. many dedicated people who want to help. our veterans period. Okay. They are I I. I promised them as secretary of VA that.

they will not have a better you know. advocate for the good work that they do. and and to do it right to fight you know. to make sure we're doing what we need to. do. But I'm also not going to tolerate. status quo. I'm also not going to. tolerate you know lower standards. We're. going to have higher standards. we're. going to push this up. Um, but at the same point in time, it's. it's it's going to take a holistic look. at everything that we're doing. It can't. simply be how do we fix the third party. helpers here, how do we fix the system.

itself? Instead of instead of us me. having to hire a driver to get me to the. grocery store because I don't know how. to drive, how about we make it better. where I learn how to drive myself? Mhm. And I think that's going to be look but. but again there's going to be parties in. equities that that's not the way they've. done it. That's not the way they do. their business. model because if they have people that. come to them, they either, you know, get. help from outside agencies or other.

stuff. I'm finding a whole different. world that I'm just getting into the. background of of how they, you know, how. we're working this stuff. And folks, if. you've earned a benefit, take your. benefit. You've earned the benefit. But also there's a lot of other. encouragement to go back and go back and. I think that frustrates a lot of. veterans and you've heard this like I. have. I want it to be known veterans are. not victims. Mhm. We're not. We chose we. went into the profession. We done that. and and now we're we're many of us and.

you and others you've talked about we we. may have conditions now. We may have. stuff that have cost us in in that time. of service. And that's why the system. was set up is to say, "Okay, we're going. to do something." You know, the history. of the of the VA was really set up for. our veterans who were outside of cities. and outside of of areas where there were. not hospitals. The VA was set up because. we had so many coming back in from World. War I. And then, of course, you know, as. it expanded through World War II that. weren't in areas where hospitals were. So, that's how this sort of all started.

we just sort of lost our roots a little. bit because it's easier just to say, "Well, it's it's it's for the veterans, so let's just throw some money at it and. let's throw some more people at it and. uh but then let's legislate it to death. that it can't get outside these. boxes because we want to make sure that. we're still in control." That's a big. part of government issue that we have. not just a VA, but a lot of agencies. So, how would you partner with a. nonprofit for that? Well, I think.

there's ways that we can look at that. I'm exploring right now. We can profit, you know, uh, you know, do things. together. We can, you know, I can, you. know, say, look, you know, this is a. group that I, you know, that we're. meeting with. What's your ideas? Bringing those ideas to me. I've already. met with several that are saying, you. know, like we have an example right now. that is coming out and without getting. into deep, you know, details about, you. know, that that need we've had they've. had issues with data collection. and. they've had issues with stuff and it. should be something we should be.

willingly be a part of and for some. reason the VA is all is has chose to be. a stumbling block there. So it's like. well I'm now looking at that and saying. no let's let's see if we can remove. those stumbling blocks. Let's get the. data we need. Let's let's let's make. sure we have this out there so that you. know we get good answers. Um then. there's also ways again as we look going. ahead is there ways that we remove some. of the bureaucratic structure find ways. to then partner with as you said it. could it be through a grant possibly so. or other ways to help other. organizations help us get better. That's.

my goal. I don't want to I don't want to. simply put. out this idea that we need you know a. whole another layer. you've had VSOs out. here helping forever and you've had all. these others now just bringing a sort of. another layer because this group trusts. this group better than this one. Why. don't we actually look at the root. cause? If you came to me and. um you know my my fingers were turning. blue and and I was having you know I was. tingly and for some reason it looked. like a circulation issue.

Well, the problem we've had lately is is. we just put your hands in warm water or. we get them warm and we we rub on them. and then they get the circulation back. in them instead of realizing maybe. there's a heart problem here. Maybe. we're not pumping well. Well, I want to. get back to the question is is is the VA. heart pumping right? Are we putting. things into place that help the veteran. and not hinder the veteran? And are we. getting to a place I said this in my. confirmation I said I want us to become. a place instead of initial to where.

we're reactively no to a to a reactively. let's get there yes where we're actively. saying instead of saying you know I'm. not sure we can to say I think there's a. way we've got to have that mindset. difference to say look you have benefits. you've earned you've had healthcare. you've earned we're here for a reason. but we're not to make it harder and. that's I think that's become the. adversarial system that nobody sort of. talks about here that it makes it seem. and again perception before anybody. listening to this and screams oh that.

ain't the truth. No, it doesn't matter. what I think, you think, or any other. group thinks. When the perception is. it's broken, when the perception is it's. bad, and when the perception is I'm. going to get told no, then that's the. reality. Perception is reality to. veterans. And we got to break that pro. We got to break that. cycle. What about nonprofits for. treatments? There's a lot of nonprofits. out there that have that have great. treatment programs that are proven to. work. You know, like I had mentioned. vets. That's that's that's probably the.

biggest one that I know of that's doing. psychedelic stuff. There's Tom Sadderly. is a former Delta guy. He's got the. Allseurist Foundation. Very therapeutic. experience. They lots of coaching that's. been working. I mean, is there is there. a way where because it sounds look I get. it like you guys can't just be like, "Oh, we're doing ivocane treatments. now." I I realize that's going to be. that's going to be an act of Congress. and the Senate, however it works, to get. that through. But, you know, maybe.

there's a way where where the veteran. can look, maybe there's a voucher. program or something where the where I. want to try this nonprofit and maybe. maybe those nonprofits get. there some certificate. there's some. something to go through some kind of. certified from the VA and the and the. and the VA says to the veteran I'm not. going to give you the money but when. when you go to vets when you go to.

Allsecure Foundation when you go to. Veterans Advocacy Services when you go. to any of these nonprofits that are. approved look you want you want. psychedelic therapy for your ter. traumatic brain injury we're going to. give you the. voucher you pick which which which. nonprofit you want to use it for when. they and then they email in some kind of. a document that says, "Hey, we sent this. person down." I mean, that would just. that would streamline it so fast because.

then those then those nonprofits don't. have to focus so much on fundraising so. they can get these guys down there and. women down there to do these things or. or or their therapy or their whatever. And then the VA pays that voucher. Yep. Is that a possibility? I think it's a. possibility. I think everything for me. is on the table right now. And that. doesn't mean everything's going to get. approved. That doesn't mean that it's. going to happen. But it's it for me is I. want to say, okay, if we have these. possibilities that we're seeing, you.

know, the the the the mentoring, the. counseling, the the treatments, especially stuff like that are working. Can we partner with that? Can we, you. know, what's stopping me in my. organization either either policy-wise. or or statutoily wise, what the law says. I can and can't spend money on that. because there is some of that and I'm. I'm never going to say there's not. But. if it's if it's something we can now. try, then then I'm going I'm going to be. looking at this and we're going and. we've already started talking to these. groups to say, "How can that be?" I'm. going to go to my people and say, "Tell.

me what the problem is here." And and if. the answer is, "Well, we we can do that. better in the VA." I'm going say, "No, no, no, no, no. you're going to do what. you're doing, but why can't I have. people out here that can go try this and. how do we do it? Tell me as I've changed. I've changed my entire general counsel, which by the way, we have a lot of. lawyers. I have changed their whole. mindset and to say, don't tell me no. Tell me how to get to yes. If I'm asking. you to get to a problem, you get me to. yes, cuz I'm an attorney as well. I can. get you to no quicker than you can. Get. me to yes. Get me to a part where I can.

take what you're giving me. And so, I'll. go to our health people and say the same. thing. Get me to yes. Don't tell me the. standard line. Like we found out. something today we had to go. It happens. almost every day. I have to ask the. question, Sean, and this is how how it. gets very frustrating. Mhm. I have to. ask the question, is this policy from. the VA or is it statute from Congress? Because there's a big difference here. Statute from Congress. That's that's a. that's our red line. Okay. I can't I. have to operate within the law. Mhm.

Policy I made. I mean, you know, if. there's a policy that you can't have ice. cream on Fridays, well, we made the. policy. Guess what? You can have ice. cream on Fridays. I can change that all. day long. So, we've got to now delineate. because many times in the VA because. they're scared of criticism. They're. scared of of what, you know, members of. the Congress or or the media or unions. or anything would say about them is that. they much rather just say, "No, we. can't." Instead of, "Well, why?" And.

then if you ask them, well, the law just. won't let us do that. Well, policy ain't. law. We can change those kind of stuff. So, I'm willing to look at it from from. all angles to see if we can. And and if. it's treatments, then then I think. that's where we're going to have to make. sure that we're operating because I. can't bypass a law that says I can't do. X treatment and just give you money to. go do it somewhere else. I've got to. work that out in Congress. And that's. where folks like you and others that can. help me. and and also working with Bobby. Kennedy over at HHS to get some of this.

stuff approved in different ways. Having. a president, you know, who would be. willing to to say, "Look, let's do. whatever we can." That's just when it's. going to take the the push of the. veterans to say, "These are the things. that are working for us. It doesn't work. for everybody, but at least for these, it is. working." I hope you're taking this in. cuz I I am the guy you're trying to. reach. Yeah. And and not only would that. work with the treatment, but it would. also help build the trust back within.

the VA because because guys like me. don't trust the VA. We just don't. But. we do trust Tom Sadderly who is a. retired Delta operator. He's seen it. all. He has seen it all. And I know that. he has my best interest cuz he's my. friend or my friend is his friend. And. everybody looks up to guys like Tom or. Marcus Capone who's running vets with. the psychedelic stuff. It's if if if the.

VA can be an. intim that that is a that is a big step. in getting guys like me to trust the VA. again. Y and then hopefully all these. nonprofits can go away because the. problem's solved and and once this. shit's all passed through Congress then. then we don't even need that those.

nonprofits anymore cuz hope hopefully. they all wind up going away because the. problem's fixed. But in the interim it's. a great way one to get the treatment two. to build the trust back. Yeah, I think. you're right and I think that's what I. want to look at. That's why I'm out in. the field. That's why we're doing things. like this. it at times 5 weeks feels. like I've been there 5 years and in 5. weeks I realize my god I've been there 5. weeks and and going and I've had in just. in that amount of time we've had to deal. with uh our first start of contract.

looks where we found we went through 2%. of our contracts 2% and found almost 580. bill 900 a billion and a half about B. and a half that are contracts that were. were non-m mission critical non-m. mission essential that's just in 2%. we've had to deal with that I've had to. deal with the probationary uh firings. which helped us get you begin this thing. get started. We're dealing things and. you mentioned it earlier by the way. We've had um the issue of the flags. We've we've changed that policy so that. we're we're back to one force under the.

American and P flag. It's all we're. doing. We we've uh took the DEI out. We. we're doing that today. Even just as as. we're coming on, we changed the policy. on transgender. You're not going to be. getting your sex changed at the VA. anymore. If you're currently in. treatment, we're going to continue that. what was started before we ever got. there, just as as the sec deaths did in. his side, but because we don't want. anything bad to happen to somebody who's. under those treatments, but you know, from this point on, you're not going to. we're not changing your sex. You're.

going to get we're going to treat you. with respect and dignity if you come to. the VA for all your for your services, but we're just not going to be. participating in in changing your sex. That's not what our our services are. for. and everything that we're taking. moneywise away to that would take away. from money that I could be spending on. something else that are helping vets. directly who are not even getting. primary healthcare. That's the things. that we're looking at. So, we're in the. process of doing as much of this as we. possibly can. And so, we're taking every. new idea. I'm taking it back. Our team.

is starting to process it. Um, and and. we're working toward, you know, this end. of making it a much more accessible, much more uh idea friendly, if you. would, uh, VA. That restores trust. I'm. hoping that restoring trust in in the VA. is me using social media in every. possible way I can to tell people what's. actually going on. And this is coming on. your show, doing other shows, and saying. going into the media, and uh, going on. and saying, "Guys, no, I'm not going to. let senators lie to you anymore. I'm not.

going to let uh union members I'm not. going to let the newspapers and legacy. media tell you stories which they by the. way can't back up. This is what I've. been fighting. I know we're on the I. know we're getting closer to the target. because the because the the flax getting. a lot heavier. Mhm. Because they don't. want us on this Sean. I mean think about. this. If you redo this and get it. done in any circle of life in in the. federal. government other is if you talk about a.

problem, you develop a group that says. this is my. problem and then all along you never. really get to solving the problem. Mhm. Then what you've done is you've built a. group. This perpetuates itself on what? The problem. So, I don't care what group. it is out there. If they're not sort of. in many ways trying to either put. themselves out of business, so to speak, because they solved a problem, as you. said, or they're perpetuating the. problem and then claiming they're the.

help for that problem. That's what we're. fighting against. And I want to make. sure that we're in a position to where. veterans understand that they at least. from the secretary level here and what's. going to hopefully permeate down through. the ranks is that this is a this is not. acceptable where we are. There's a lot. of things we do well and there's a lot. of things that frankly um the VA does. probably better than private uh. healthcare anywhere else because we just. have more experience in it. But then. there's a lot of things that we don't.

So why aren't we partnering with the. community? Craziest story I. heard. We actually have hospitals are. sitting across the street, literally. across the street from from worldclass. oncology, cancer centers, and we're. worrying about hiring cancer doctors at. the VA. I said, "That's the dumbest. thing I've ever heard in my life. Just. send them across the street and contract. the care across the street. I don't need. to hire the doctor. They've already got. them over here." But that's the kind of. thinking, Sean. Mhm. That's your.

thinking when your mindset is. organizational and not patient or in our. case veteran centric. That's the kind of. things you get. What was your conversation like with. Bobby Kennedy about psychedelics? Eye opening because you know of course. he is uh uh very you know our make. America healthy again you know getting. people you know getting the food. additives out getting those kind of. stuff. And I asked him specifically cuz. we were talking about this. I said. psychedelics because he's he, you know,

his agency would have some some say in. some, you know, the studies and stuff on. that. And it was really interesting. Bobby starts talking about this and he. says one, he said, I was a heroin. addict. He said, putting stuff in your. body, he said, for me to to begin to. talk about, you know, having something. put in my body to quote fix, he said, I'm just, he said, I'm just that's just. nowhere close for me. He said, because. of my past. He said, but then he wanted. to explain a family member of his child. of his who had an experience using.

psychedelics that changed his life. drastically. And he said, "I would have. never thought this, would have never saw. you." It sort of I let him I would let. him explain his the way he sees it. But. he said, "This is working." He said, "I've changed my mind about this.". because he said I actually see it. happening and see it work and and he. said in my own you know flesh and blood. and I think that's the the part that you.

know for me began to be exciting a. little bit and to see here's someone who. is. so sensitive to those issues of. medication and one of the things too is. and I think you see this as well the. answer to people many times if they're. having you know episodes And. so just this idea that the ideas that. you can medicate them to health is a is. is a problematic to me. I just believe. it is. And it doesn't mean that.

medicines don't work. That's not what. I'm saying. I'm not saying go stop your. medication. I'm not saying don't give. them. But but is there other ways to. help in that regard that can reduce that. dependency? And if we can, that'd be. great. So Bobb's the same way. So for us. it was I got a partnership now that he. and I are going to continue to work on. from the research side and from the the. other also bringing hopefully bringing. DoD involved a little bit in this as. well cuz that's part of our problem. Sean, we hadn't even really talked about. this. The transition from from DoD.

to civilian or what we would term VA our. side is is really bad. We don't do this. well. We don't and it's not just the VA. health or VA benefit, not just the. benefit is is we're not giving a lot of. our young service members and even older. service members the transition that they. need. You know, we send them through the. programs, we you know, you do the. briefings, you've been there, you know, and and is it really working? And the. answer has to be that probably it's not. working like it should because we're.

seeing, you know, too many people end up. in suicidal issues. We're seeing too. much end of homelessness issues or, you. know, financial breakdowns, marriage. breakdowns, because as much as for those. of us in the military who can gripe. about the structure at times, you take. away the. structure and even the the harshest. rebel, you know, who who rebelled. against structure would say, I need that. structure. So, I think that's where it's. really changed for me and looking at how.

we do this and how we go about it. Um so. again having partners like that is going. to be whether it be at DoD, whether it. be at HHS or um you know with us at the. VA is going to be very important moving. forward. What what is. the what is the plan? Mhm. Like. with psychedelics, what is what is the. plan moving forward? How do how does it. get introduced into the VA? What needs. to happen? Well, the first thing we're. going to do is is and I'm getting this.

information now. Again, this is part of. this.ve I've already had a few who have. came in who've actually talked about it. who want to talk about it some more. And. then we got this study that's being done. in in our in conjunction up in uh New. York. We I want to see if if there's a. possibility to expand that program. Where is it right now? Again, some of. this I'm getting and and again, I'm not. trying to to be, you know, anything. evasive here. I've got to get the. knowledge of what we're doing and what. we have not done. So, I'm going to get. that information and see. I know what. the program you're talking about. Um, you know, I've heard about it. you know.

as well. So let's get data on that you. know have our people start you know. reaching out across the board to say. okay what is out there then we got to. also then t take that and look at what. is the structural limitations that I. have what is the VA structural. problems to either entering into a. larger study or entering into a trial. basis or you know basically possibly. even you know as you said early voucher. funding or whatever that may be what are. my structural limitations that Congress. has put on me there Is there structural.

limitations that says you can use X. dollars for this but you can't use X. dollars for that? Okay. And then if. there is and we find enough evidences in. our place to do it, then I'm going to go. to Congress. I'm going to go to the. House, the House Veterans Affairs. Committee. I'm going to go to the Senate. Veterans Affairs Committee. And then I'm. going to go to the to the leadership and. say, "Look, these are things that I need. changed. Y'all may not be able to agree. on a lot of things here, but these are. some things I'm hopefully you can agree. on. give me the statutory. ability and even if you want to do it on.

a limited basis to start off with I I'll. take that so that I can actually start. trying if I find out I don't have some. of the statutory limitations then I want. to know what. policywise may be hindering this or is. there a policy that can make sure that. we're working with partners um to do. this now again you said it earlier the. fiduciary role I have I take very. seriously. You get close to a vet. You. get close to and I and and Sean, you may.

have heard me say this already in this. in this discussion. I I call them my. vets and my employees. I don't do that. to belittle. I don't do that. I just. it's personalized to me. Mhm. So, if you. get close to them, we're going to make. sure you're doing it right. My fiduciary. duty is I got to make sure that no. matter how great you think your program. is, I got to make sure that we're not. opening something up that that nobody. else has seen. and it would and that's. just due diligence kind of thing. So, we're going to make that happen. One of.

the things that was concerning me and. almost a sidetrack to what we're talking. about here is there's a lot of. residential uh treatment facilities in. the private sector now that because of. weight times for some mental health. issues that are now popping up. Okay, I. got no problem with us and in Congress. is sort of backing this up and we're. putting some more money in there for it. But one of the concerns is has have we. created a cottage. industry for this now? Because look, money in DC is like water on a pavement.

It's going to go to the it's going to go. to its lowest part. It's going to find. its way out. Okay? So, if all of a. sudden people hear there's money in. this, then they're going to be there's. always going to rise to meet that. demand. But is that demand always good? No, it's not because they're doing it. quickly. They're doing it for the money. they're doing it for the you know the. possib not every one of them but. probably some. So we're having to deal. with that right now in those kind of. programs and I'm having to deal with our. folks to say are we making sure that if. we're using these are they up to.

standard that we need to be at because. if we don't then we're going to be. giving money to things that aren't. working and in the end hurting us in the. long run. I think that's something that. I've got to be aware of. So for me it's. really goes down to that. That's where. we're already starting. We're going to. have more meetings as as we go about. this to make sure we're getting the. information and as quickly as possible. start to find those solutions that we. that we can do something with. Would. advocacy help at all? Does does it help. you to get veterans that have been. through X Y andZ treatments in front of.

Congress to vouch? Yeah, I I it never. hurts. It never hurts and to do that. Um. because again the be I've said this for. years, the best spokesman for anything. is the satisfied customer, you know, and. I think that's the the part and the. recognition that it may or may not be. for everybody, but for me this worked. Um and so in conjunction with what. hopefully we're going to do over the. next few weeks and and maybe a couple. months is seeing what are our. limitations, beginning the process to. say, "Hey, this has worked for me. I'm.

not sure where we're at in the process, but Mr. Congressman, Miss Congressman. or, you know, madam senator, senator, whatever. I want you to know this has. worked for me. I just want to give you. this information and I would appreciate. if you know help the secretary find us a. way to this. I believe this could help. others. That's always a good I I would. never turn anybody down to talk about. what they have. The reason I'm asking is. earlier you're talking about how media. is attacking you about this stuff. And. so would would a hearing with a thousand.

I mean you're talking to the largest. veteran population in the world right. now on this show and so would it help if. there was some type of a hearing at. Congress and you brought in a thousand. vets that have been through different. treat you know whatever whatever you're. advocating for. changewise to bring in people that have. actually that has actually worked for in. front of Congress televised Here it is. Yep. Media, put this on. Yeah, I think.

we could I think that's something. definitely working with Congress and and. working with the the two committees in. particular to to say as we go forward, here's things that we we want to. emphasize and some of that's been done a. little bit, but I think it could be done. more. I'm not going to downplay that. there's not been an interest in Congress. about this. Um, but it's not just the VA. committee there. It's it's the energy. and commerce which does a lot of the. healthc care stuff and everything else. So there's different ways, but yeah, I. think those are definitely ways if we. can get partnership with the Congress to. say, are there better ways to do this?

And and I think, frankly, I think it'll. be a Republican and Democrat um coming. together on it. I think you're going to. see both parties be willing to look at. stuff that work. You're going to have. some on both ends who say, "No, we're. not going to touch this or or no, this. is bad." But you're going to have enough. in the middle to say, "Well, let's at. least listen to it." So I think as we. progress in the next little bit with our. information and then working with uh. chairman Boston and the house and and. the uh committee and chairman Moran and. the other side uh to say hey you know. we've got some ideas here. Is this.

something we can get you to take a look. at? We can make sure you have all the. you know the the witnesses you want in. dealing with this. Um I think it'd be. definitely something. Now I'm not going. to also fool anybody. you start dealing. with everybody's uh sort of piece of the. pie out there, you know, nonprofits, VSOs, everybody start shuffling, you. going to make a lot of people nervous, Sean. Mhm. Because again, you're dealing. in livelihoods, so to speak, with with. stuff that they're doing and how they've.

done it and do we need to change and not. change. I'm just not I'm not bought and. sold anybody. I'm bought and sold to the. veteran getting the help that they need. and not dying anymore. So look, it it's this is where we got to. have it. And and and right now the. bigger fights that we got to have is. getting a structural basis. These are. things that we can work on. But bringing. it back to where we sort of started this. whole thing is I've got to work on. getting the VA into the best possible.

shape it can. be to actually do its. mission. And right now we're probably a. little more than probably we are heavy. and where our allocation of employees. are, where allocation and where our. contracts have been spent and how the. money is being spent and should be spent. differently. Those are the things that. we're working on very hard right now. But again, when you got Congress who has. put this money out there telling. everybody it's going to work, but the.

reality is it's not, they're going to be. very hesitant to be told that what they. did was wrong or to do it better. And so. we're fighting those battles right now. that are keeping me away from dealing. with some of these other issues um on. how can we, you know, find new and. inventive ways to do things. How can we. actually try things that haven't been. tried before? So I'm fighting a bunch of. battles on different different levels. right now. And wherever veterans can. help, that's where I I would love to.

have them be a part of this this. solution. Man, it's just a damn shame. You know, you got the entire veteran. population that's screaming, "We need. help. This is how you help us." And then. you got the bureaucrats that are. getting in the way, that are slandering. whatever's happening in the media. And. it's just it's I think that's what makes. it so frustrating is we know what we. need and we know what we want and we. can't get it done because some. politician in DC who didn't never step a. foot on a combat ever, never is.

making the decisions for us. And it. pisses us off. Y and you know but. earlier you had mentioned about. community health care. Yeah. How does. that how is it working now and what. would you like to see happen? It's it's. not working as good as it should. I. believe and I think this is where we. need to make it easier and I think and. again I look at this generationally and. and this you and I don't mean to to put. everybody in a pigeon hole here but.

we're dealing with different generations. of veterans. Okay? I still got World War. II veterans. I still got Korean veterans. have still have a lot of Vietnam. veterans. And then there's a sort of. that if you if you know your history. sort of that LOL time that 70s and 80s. that was sort of after the Vietnam. before Gulf War that is a veteran that. is has a lot of different needs. They. were in a lot of different things but. just they're sort of the quiet veteran. that veteran in the middle and then you. sort of pick up with Gulf War and then. Gwad. Okay, think about that for a. second. You go from boomers or not even.

boomers, you know, you go pre-boomers. uh to the greatest generation through. boomers through X, through everything. else. The the mentality of those. generations and how they interact with. the VA u is very different. And so the. issues of the older ones are more. attracted to the VA centers themselves, the the health, the hospitals, the. seabox, they want that care there. if as. they get older, some of them can't drive. as far, they can't get that help. So,

it's it's more advantageous for them to. go to a local eye doctor instead of. driving 80 miles to the to the VA where. they've always been forever. That's a. help. But then you get into that Gulf. War GWAT. veteran who has visions of the VA from. their moms or dads or or from others. from the Vietnam era, which they were. they they don't want any part of that, but they want still the help, especially. if they're struggling with financially.

or something else. They want to have the. health care that they need. And by the. way, we've got to do a better job. I'm. going to take a little turn here for a. second. We've got to do a better job at. at preventive health for veterans. We. don't do a very good job at this right. now. We're trying, but I've talked to to. our folks. So, like my generation and. others that we have the issues of health. care, mental health, but just the basics. of getting our diabetes under control, make sure we're still eating right, make. sure we're doing the things that run our. cost up long term and also take away. quality of of life. If we can do that in.

the in the VA system, then we're going. to not only save money, we're also going. to help people, you know, in in the long. run, too, from losing fingers, losing. arm, you know, especially the diabetic. stuff. We're two and a half more times. than the average population for for. diabetes. We're much more high pro. propensity for hypertension and blood. pressure, cholesterol, those kind of. things. Those are areas that we got to. fix. But if they're not willing to go. into the VA to get it or have been. turned off from the VA as you have, then. the community care needs to be accessed.

in my opinion more readily. Now, the. first thing I'm getting accused of, Sean, and I can tell you right now, somebody listening uh right now, they. said, "Doug wants to privatize the. VA." No, I don't. VA will always be. there for for folks to get care and one. way or the other, it's always going to. be there. We're not privatizing anything. if I'm paying the bill for you to go to. a local doctor that you feel comfortable. with and get the care that you need. That's not. privatization. That's simply being smart. and also following the law. The law says.

we're supposed to. But yet, we've also. got to deal in the realities that in. some of our areas, the private health. care, public healthare, the public. hospitals have as much of a problem with. finding doctors and nurses and all as we. do. And so like I know down in our part. of the world where I'm from in. Georgia, the wait time for mental health. and and for psychiatry and some of stuff. like that in the private sector is. actually longer than it is unreasonably.

than it is for the for the VA. So to. dump all of a sudden to put a lot of. stuff pressure back on communities that. can't handle that anyway, we've got to. find a balance. That means we have to. staff up in areas that helps us get to. the points that we need to be. But. that's a generational issue. But right. now, what's happened and I I'll just. tell you candidly in the last. administration, they moved away from. that model altogether. They just. seemingly turned their back. on getting people into the community.

healthcare if they chose it. They were. trying to keep all of as or as much of. it into the VA itself. Um and and if and. if people hadn't figured out why yet, I'll I'll go ahead and break the the the. the sad news. is because if I keep them. more in the healthcare then I can ask. for more money. I can keep more people. here. Now there are also things that we. do that others don't do and but that's. fine but when you're keeping them from. the healthcare then you're also putting. them at risk that if they're not getting. the health care out there and they're.

not coming to see you then you're not. helping them in the way that you should. So that's the way community health. should work. That's where our community. care program should be. We're going to. get it back to where that is is more. applicable. And there actually is some. legislation right now, both in the House. and the Senate, to actually strengthen. that by reducing some of the limitations. to community care so that it's easier to. access. That will help us all in the. long run, especially our rural. healthcare u and especially our suburban. healthcare, that sort of middle ground. health care where they're maybe not too.

they're not too far from a health VA. center, but they're not close enough and. they just want to be in their community. But Sean, how many how many of our. generation want to drive 90 miles to a. center or a seabach that they don't know. anybody and they go in and their peer. group is much older than them probably. and they're going to sit around and say, "I'll just go to my doctor down the. street or I'll go to the quick care and. and just if I need something or I'll.

just keep, you know, doing this myself.". Everybody wants to be able to do that. So that's what we're looking at. So. that's what So are you saying it will be. a choice? You can either go to the VA or. you can that's what I've been. advocating. There is there there's. choice in there. There's some criteria. that's been set up, you know, because. again with the the mileage and stuff. like that, but even in the House and the. Senate, they're trying to refine those. down to where it makes it easier to get. that community care. And what we're. going to what you know what I think is a. is a probably the.

the result of some of this and this is. me speaking just as I think you're going. to see as it gets better and better with. working with the community and working. with the VA you'll start seeing a lot. more split care you'll start seeing some. for like instance I want to like say you. had orthopedic issues or you have we've. got some great of some of our medical. centers especially in orthopedic and. bone are probably some as good if not. better than a lot of the the private. hospital. They may go there to get an. orthopedic issue, but they're going to. go outside to get their cardio cardiac.

care or they're going to go outside to. get their kidney doctor. So, you'll have. a split model, which is exactly what the. the law envisions. So, you don't have to. be stuck to one or the other. You get. the best care you can at the way that. you want it got. But yet, we've got to. get to a system in which we take out the. middle people, we take out the. processes, we get it streamlined into. where VA has the control it needs to. make sure fiduciarely we're doing what. we're supposed to do, but not the.

control to where we keep it ourselves. That's there's a big difference there. There's a big difference in in signing. off and agreeing this is the condition, I see this, I'm going to give this. person a referral instead of saying, well, I see this condition, but let's. see if we can get them back in in two. weeks to talk to them again. You know, those kind of things. I'll just say. this, in the coming weeks, you're going. to see some more of this coming out from. our office. I would just say stay tuned. Um, it's bigger than what I can even. describe here. We got some other stuff.

coming out. And I'll just say just bear. with us there. We're working through. this community care issue to overcome. what we've had in the last four years. That sounds good. That sounds real. reassuring. What about the burn pits? You know, a lot of I mean, there's all. these weird cancers popping up. It's. like every day I got a new buddy that's. got cancer, that's died of cancer, that's got stage four cancer. You know, nobody knows what it's from. A lot of. people think it's from the burn pits or.

the the the the vicinity around high. explosives breathing in that. especially in Afghanistan, you know, the. burning tires to keep warm. We breathe. that in. I remember I remember spitting. in the sink and my spit was gray because. I had breathed in so much crap. I mean, it sounds like there's something on. going on there with the burnt pits. Yeah, the Pact was designed to to to. address some of that. The the problem is. is look the pack was a was a good uh. step into dealing with this. Look, I'm a.

burn pit guy as well. I mean, I was at. Balad every day in our uh you know, while I was there, you'd wake up in the. morning. When I first got there, I don't. know if it was your experience. I got. there and I thought, why is it so hazy. around here? You know, I thought I. thought it was an environmental I'd. never been in the desert kind of thing. I thought, but then I got to realizing. it was just the constant flow of the. burn air pit area that was going over um. our bu our hutches over there. That's. just what it was all the time. It was. there all the time. I remember riding by.

and you could see it burning. It. reminded me of growing up in North. Georgia where everybody in our. neighborhood had the 55gallon drums and. had the bottom out and you throw your. trash in there and you burn your trash. Mhm. I mean, I smell the same smells and. worse that I was smelling in the burn. pit that was there that was used to be. when we were burning plastics and crap. and everything in the in the trash bin. So, yeah, there's I think there's a lot. to go on there. What my concern was is. they sort of took this from the 9/11 if.

you remember time frame wise here. because we had a lot of exposure. So, President Biden at the time got up in. the say the union said we're going to. address this. Well, all of a sudden, they threw a bill together, which had. been already been worked on, but they. sort of threw out everything that been. worked on and threw this bill together. that is part good, but also very rushed. Let's just I I'll be kind today, okay? It was rushed and then thrust upon the. VA to say, "Here, do this." Did you know.

part of that bill I bet most people. didn't know this, do you know that that. bill actually requires the VA to test. every veteran? the test of were you near. a burn pit? Were you near toxic. chemicals? Were you near They ask those. basic questions that I'm supposed to ask. every. veteran. I I mean there's over 18. million 19 million veterans in this. country. Only 9 million roughly have. been touched in any way by the VA. How. am I supposed to find the nine million. if they don't want to be found? But. that's the kind of thing that was put in.

the. bill. And I actually asked one I. happened to have be in a meeting the. other day with someone who actually. wrote that bill and they I mean they. were nice about it but they didn't. really have a good answer and there's no. way for me to reach these people. So I. say all of that to say that's the the. the con conduit around packag was that. looking for the diseases. Right now we. have. basically permissively allowed almost. almost every condition under that that.

if you have then it's going to be found. under the. pact. Um and then how treatment goes. from there will be just determined on on. what like everything cancers of the head. which technically there is no such thing. as cancers of the head. It's specifics. in there but that we have a terminology. of cancers of the. head. Okay. I mean, we've turned when in. the previous secretary uh added in I. think it was previous secretary and I. confirm but the these uh presumptive.

conditions were added for hypertension. and um prostate and everything else. like okay I get it but you know we're. we're just sort of at this point just. say if you've been near a ver you can. answer one of these questions you're. just going to get healthcare and which. is in some ways burdening the system a. little bit and the benefit side the. disability side of. Um, but if that's what the intent of. Congress to do is just basically give. everybody disability checks for that, then you know that's what you're going. to have to look at going forward. So for. me, it's saying, okay, what are the real.

medical consequences of this? What can. we do to treat this? This was also. something I brought up that was Bobby. Kennedy and I actually talked about as. well on from but we talked about it from. a vaccine perspective but also some. others you know is just saying you know. how can we you know look at these. conditions and begin to know that what. we're seeing and and the treatments are. effective to what we have and I think. that's the question sometimes never. asked. So for me I'm having to live with. PACtac and say how do we fix it? It's a.

good thing to get these people in who. have these cancers have this to make. sure we're treating them, getting the. health care they need in the community. or or with us. So that's really where. for the burn pit people and for the. toxic exposure people, we're, you know, keeping that commitment. And contrary to. lies, we didn't cut any toxic exposure. funds. We actually the Congress just. actually added in more money in this. latest uh CR that was just done. So. again, I cannot tell you the magnitude. of lies that I deal with on a daily. basis. Yeah. And now we got a big one.

coming in too and and and not a lot I. can tell you as much about this. We're. trying to implement that's the Dole Act, Elizabeth Dole Act, which is going to. deal with with caregivers at home and. and and other things that have been. building up over time. I'm now trying to. figure out how do I do that and process. it properly because some of it we were. not funded for. Here's a here's another. trick, you know, and look, I've been in. Congress, so I I participated, you know, fortunately in this is we pass stuff, but we don't fund it. And so we just.

expect the VA, which by the way, you're. complaining about how much money we have. now. You complain, but now you're. telling me to do something that could be. literally billions of dollars, and I'm. having to find the. money. So this is, you know, but I'm. having having a ball. It sounds like it. because I believe in what I'm doing. So. with all these these cuts, it's was it 83,000 jobs right now are on. the line at the VA? There's about 15%. So give or take around. That's what. we're looking at. And so that money.

that's going to those jobs that just. won't disappear. That will get no that. will get reallocated into something else. like healthcare. Yeah, that's what I. mean that will be what we fight for is. to get reallocated. Some will some, you. know, if you get to the point probably. would go to something differently. I'm. not going to say all will just stay in. Although, you know, especially with what. we got going on, that might be my. preference. But again, also is is the. workforce slimming and the monies that. we can spend um going to where it needs. to go. And I think that's going to be. the big key for us is making sure that.

now again, one of the things is Congress. again holds the purse strings. You know, in actuality, they are the ones that. pass the budgets and put the monies in. there and everything else. So, we've got. to make the decision so that we do have. cuts, we do have things that don't. continue on in our budgets because the. one thing we've not talked about and. we've had senior military leaders and. and others, our national debt and. national and deficits are a national. security issue and we can't keep going. the way we're going uh in this. The ve. the VA will always be one that's going.

to probably be looked at is to make us. as efficient as we possibly can. And. we're going to do that and we're going. to do our part. We we're already well. ahead in working that way. But also, I. have to be, as I've told our staff many. times, I've told, you know, work the. White House and everybody else is I. said, "Look, we're going to do in a. measured way because at the end of the. day, I'm dealing with people. I'm the. only agency up there that has to deal. with cuts, but actually also has to look. at doctors and nurses and and families. in the face and say, "We're taking care.

of your health care." I no other agency. has to do that. Pete at DoD is about as. close as you know I would say that comes. to having to deal with the the the sort. of real viral side of people in in the. decisions that he makes life or death. kind of decision. Where does my son or. daughter get sent kind of thing. I'm on. the other end of it in which that it's. very I we got to be very careful where. we make it so that we're not hurting. veterans and we're giving them the. ability to get the disability benefits.

or the other benefits they've earned. So, we're I take it very seriously. But. do I think we can get a large amount of. that number? You better believe it. I do. believe it. because I know and one of the reason I. know is because everybody that's coming. up who's saying, "Oh, well, all the. weight times are going to go up and all. the backlog is going to go up." Well, I. just have four years of proof that tens. of millions of dollars and tens of. thousands of people didn't solve your. problem. So, why don't we try a little. differently here? Let's give them a. better organization. Here's a better. thing. Like I said earlier, give me an H.

an HR tool that actually lets me know. how many people I have and where they're. at. Give me a computer system that can. begin to to screen disability benefits. and others to help the actual person so. that we can take the easy ones, the. tonitis and everything. Let's take those. off the table. Let's quit griping and. going paperwork and paperwork about. that. Let's take the easy off the shelf. so that we can get to the harder ones to. determine their level of disability. Let's do things with with AI, never. taking a human component out of it.

because there's always, especially with. veterans, there's complex cases. So, I'm. always going to have the the the person. there to go through that and make sure. that we're getting what we need to to. get and not overgive, but not underg. either. But why don't we use uh computer. and AI training to actually. say, "Let's do this better and do it. quicker." I'm I'm all for doing things. better and quicker. Sean, look, what. what's the old saying? Uh, slow is. smooth and smooth is fast. Mhm. That's where we got to be here. And I'm.

committed to doing that. I'm asking. questions that others may have asked. I'm just going to be doing it. differently because as I've told all our. folks, I I sit here with you as about as. content an individual as I can be. I've. had, you know, 59 almost 60 years of. life. I've had the experiences of being around. the world sitting with presidents and. kings and and doing things in Congress. and and being with a lawyer helping. people in court, standing beside them on.

their worst day and helping them out. I'. I've had the privilege of pastoring a. little church that grew into a little. bit bigger church. I've had a wife. that's been with me for 36 almost 37. years. We've been together 38. I have. three kids. I'm at the point in my life to where I. want I I I want to help others get. better. I'm at that point I want to turn. around and say for all this experience. and where I've been, I want to make sure. we're doing something right. I get as. much joy out of somebody that's working. for me coming to me and say, "Hey, we.

got this done." That's the celebration. for me because I've really come to the. conclusion over years of work in this. and believing this one statement that if. I help enough people in life get what. they want, I'll get what I want. Well, now we're at a place to really make this. happen. So, for me, I don't know what'll. happen if I get to stay for four years. in this. I don't care. I get four years. to make a difference in the life of my. brothers and sisters and war. fighters that gave something to this. country. And now my job is to make sure.

that that country who promised them. things, who set it up, actually does it. I can't think of a better calling. And. I'll take the arrows. I'll take the. slings. I'll go to Congress and have, you know, the other side of the aisle. yell at me and tell me I'm bad. That's. fine. You come at me because I'm gonna. do the best I can with what I have, with. what they gave. me. But the one thing about it, Sean, is. this. You're not going to kick around. the VA anymore without offering.

solutions. You're not going to scare my. veterans and you're not going to scare. my employees without this secretary. calling you out when you are wrong. And I've seen it so much in the last few. weeks, it's. disgusting. I've had sitting senators. lie. repeatedly about who was let go. I've. had sen house members and senators lie. repeatedly about, as I said earlier, appointments getting put off, surgeries. getting put off, delays are already. going up. It's been 3 weeks when 40 2400.

people who never touched any of those. things were laid off. And you're telling. me this is a problem? Where have you. been for 10 years when GAO says that. we're as screwed up as we have been? Mhm. Don't tell me that. anymore. We may not get everything I. want to get accomplished. I may not be. able to help every veteran, but we're. damn sure going to. try cuz it's not going to happen. anymore. Tired of it. Good for you. I. think that's a perfect place to end.

this. And um I'm glad you're in there. I. hope these changes happen, buddy. I'm. looking forward to with folks like you. and others. We're going to have make it. happen. Perfect. Thank you. Appreciate. it. Thank. [Music]. you. No matter where you're watching. Shawn Ryan Show from, if you get. anything out of this, please like, comment, subscribe, and most. importantly, share this everywhere you.

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