WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), in a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC), pressed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins to provide some details about the 585 VA contracts he has announced he plans to cancel nationwide. The hearing comes two months after Senator King wrote a letter to Secretary Collins requesting a full list of all the contracts cancelled and made clear that arbitrary, reckless cancellations will harm veterans by denying or delaying them the care they earned through their service to the nation. During the exchange, Senator King criticized the lack of transparency stemming from the VA and questioned why it has taken so long to supply the list to the committee, stating that his request “couldn’t be simpler.”

At the end of February, the VA announced a list of 875 contracts that would be cancelled; less than 24 hours later another announcement was released stating those cancellations were on hold. One week later, the VA announced the cancellation of an additional 585 contracts. To date, the VA has still not shared any additional information with the Veterans Affairs Committee about either cancellation announcement, including a comprehensive list of all the cancelled contracts.

Senator King began, “I just want a list of the contracts, it has been two months. 585 contracts. I want to know what they are. I'm an optimistic kind of guy, and I'm not suspicious, but the fact that you won't tell us what the contracts are that are being renegotiated makes me wonder if there are things in those contracts that maybe you don't want us to know about.”

“Well, I will say from my perspective that that is not it and we will work to get you the information you need,” said Secretary Collins.

“When,” asked Senator King.

“We are working through it now,” responded Secretary Collins.

“How about by next Friday,” requested Senator King.

“I will meet with my folks, and I will see what we could get to you,” replied Secretary Collins.

“That is not a very satisfactory answer. This couldn’t be simpler. It’s just a list of 585 contracts; somebody has that list. I don’t know why you can’t supply it to this committee. When you were confirmed, Senator Blumenthal said, ‘will you commit to respond promptly to members of this committee who request information and be fully transparent with this committee?’ You said, ‘that is my intention. You will have every information that you need.’ Well, this is the antithesis of transparency. I can't imagine anything more simple. Somewhere there exists this list,” concluded Senator King.

Representing one of the states with the highest rates of military families and veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America’s servicemembers and veterans. A member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), he works to ensure American veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs such as the PACT Act, the State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care Flexibility Act, and the John Scott Hannon Act. Recently, in a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, Senator King joined his colleagues in urging for immediate action to secure veterans’ personal information provided by VA or other agencies to Elon Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), a measure that would protect millions of veterans’ medical records stored in VA’s computer systems. In addition, he helped pass the Veterans COLA Act, which increased benefits for 30,000 Maine veterans and their families.

Recently, Senator King introduced bipartisan legislation alongside SVAC Chairman Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) to improve care coordination for veterans who rely on both VA health care and Medicare. In February, Senator King was honored by the Disabled American Veterans as its 2025 Legislator of the Year. Last year, he was recognized by the Wounded Warrior Project as the 2024 Legislator of the Year for his “outstanding legislative effort and achievement to improve the lives of the wounded, ill, and injured veterans.” Senator King recently joined SVAC Ranking Member Senator Blumenthal in writing a letter to Secretary Collins raising concerns over proposed $1 spending limits on VA purchase cards which are used to pay for gas to transport disabled veterans to apportionments, buy medical supplies and more. Senator King also joined his colleagues in raising concerns over proposed plans to terminate 83,000 VA employees, and participated in a special investigative SVAC hearing to question witnesses who were terminated due to DOGE cuts.

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