King decries loss of jobs serving Maine veterans

U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, speaking at a congressional hearing.

Screen shot At a hearing on Capitol Hill in late February, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, voiced his concern over firings at the U.S. Department of Veterinary Affairs.

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By Tina Fischer

As jobs affecting veteran services continue to be threatened by shifting dictates out of the Trump administration, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is demanding clarification from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

At the end of February, the department announced a list of 875 employee contracts that would be cancelled, many of them affecting Maine veterans. Less than 24 hours later, another announcement put those cancellations on hold, only to be followed by a notice a week later proclaiming an additional 585 contracts would be reneged. No information has been provided regarding which jobs would be affected in the latest threatened cuts.

King said in a statement released March 11 that he’s written to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, requesting a full list of all the contracts cancelled, “and made clear that arbitrary, reckless cancellations will adversely impact veteran care in Maine and across the country.”

King, who sits on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said that he is particularly concerned about a notice included in the first list of firings for the only radiation safety officer at Togus VA Medical Center in Maine. “The role is responsible for overseeing radiology safety and is required by law; without an RSO in place, the radiology department at Togus may be forced to close its doors.

“My constituents are confused by the back and forth of these announcements, and they need answers,” King wrote to the VA secretary. “To date, despite committing to transparency with Congress in your nomination process, your department has refused to answer even the most basic questions my office and those of other senators have asked about these contracts.”