The New York Times on Tuesday published the article ‘Despite Promises, Veterans Affairs Department Cut Thousands of Roles for Doctors and Nurses,’ which reported that the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department “has eliminated thousands of medical positions left vacant after a wave of resignations last year, leading to the first drop in front-line medical staff in 20 years.”
President Trump’s VA Secretary Doug Collins responded to the article on social media by writing: “The @NYTimes bills itself as the gold-standard of journalism, but we at @deptvetaffairs deal with them regularly, and I can assure you that’s not the case.”
The @NYTimes bills itself as the gold-standard of journalism, but we at @deptvetaffairs deal with them regularly, and I can assure you that’s not the case.
1/3 https://t.co/LMlDpLereX
— VA Secretary Doug Collins (@SecVetAffairs) March 3, 2026
Collins claimed the Times reporters “intentionally ignored the vast majority of a detailed, data-packed 1,100-word response VA gave them to answer their questions and allegations.”
https://t.co/5zJiKaDCgN pic.twitter.com/bN0IO2zljd
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) March 4, 2026
Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson for the New York Times, responded to Collins: “Mr. Secretary, while this reporting revealed facts that may be politically unwelcome, our article is based on data, documents and conversations with 20 current and former V.A. health care workers. Most of all, it is accurate and a service to Americans who have a right to know how their government is being run on their behalf.”
Among those unwelcome facts are some stemming directly from the Office of the Inspector General’s 2025 report on the Veterans Affairs Department. Data from that report cited in the Times reporting included that “more than 90 percent of the department’s facilities reported ‘severe shortages’ of doctors last year.”
(The report specifically states that “ninety-four percent of facilities reported severe occupational staffing shortages for Medical Officer occupations,” and that “VHA facilities reported a total of 4,434 severe occupational staffing shortages, a 50 percent increase from FY 2024.”)
Cutting specifically into Collins’ claims, Stadtlander wrote: “We received your spokesperson’s statement, which did not refute the cuts to your workforce, and we included the relevant parts of it in our article. But we are independent journalists, not government stenographers, and are confident in the conclusions this reporting brought to light.”