{"id":134476,"date":"2024-12-07T21:12:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-07T14:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=134476"},"modified":"2024-12-07T21:12:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T14:12:52","slug":"hegseth-and-collins-push-for-cutting-veterans-health-benefits-alarms-servicemembers-and-veterans-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=134476","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth and Collins\u2019 push for cutting veterans health benefits alarms servicemembers and veterans groups"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-editable=\"content\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-reorderable=\"content\">\n<p>\n    <cite class=\"source__cite\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"source__location\" data-editable=\"location\">Washington<\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"source__text\" data-editable=\"source\">CNN<\/span><br \/>\n        \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<br \/>\n    <\/cite>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9l6p0000m2bp5bc1tavpp@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cGet Pete Hegseth on the phone!\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900033b6md6lxmwed@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            It was March 2018, and then-President Donald Trump was meeting with his Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary, Dr. David Shulkin, about how to reform veteran health care. But it was Hegseth, then a Fox News personality, whose opinion Trump really wanted.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900043b6mbmnirgfh@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Hegseth, now Trump\u2019s nominee to serve as secretary of defense, had been a vocal and persistent advocate for veterans having unfettered access to private health care, rather than having to go through the VA to keep their benefits. He\u2019s also lobbied for policies that would restrict VA care and believes veterans should ask for fewer government benefits.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900053b6mi0zwiopz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWe want to have full choice where veterans can go wherever they want for care,\u201d Hegseth told Trump on speakerphone as Shulkin listened, according to Shulkin\u2019s 2019 memoir.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900063b6miyqq74i1@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump\u2019s pick to serve as the next VA secretary, Doug Collins, has also expressed support for greater privatization of veteran health care, which advocates characterize as giving veterans greater choice over their doctors. If veterans \u201cwant to go back to their own doctors, then so be it,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepDougCollins\/status\/1856128107897299159\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told Fox News<\/a> last month.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900073b6mseizd8wa@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            For Shulkin, a rare \u201choldover\u201d from President Barack Obama\u2019s administration to Trump\u2019s, this was \u201cthe worst-case scenario\u201d for veteran health care, and one he had repeatedly warned Hegseth against.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900083b6mzlwpxboc@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cYour version of choice would cost billions more per year, bankrupting the system,\u201d Shulkin recalls telling Hegseth in his memoir. \u201cHow can we responsibly pursue this? Unfortunately, he didn\u2019t want to engage at the level of budget and other aspects of day-to-day reality. He seemed to prefer his sound bites on television.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900093b6my4tkc5z0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            If confirmed, Hegseth and Collins will have the opportunity to push for a dramatic overhaul of the military and veteran health care system, one that could significantly cut government health benefits for servicemembers and veterans \u2013 many of which Hegseth says veterans should not be asking for at all.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000a3b6mr6lakuld@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Veterans groups \u201cencourage veterans to apply for every government benefit they can ever get after they leave the service,\u201d he told Fox News\u2019 \u201cFox and Friends\u201d in 2019. \u201cTo me, the ethos of service is, I served my country because I love my country and I\u2019m gonna come home and start the next chapter of my life. If I\u2019ve got a chronic condition \u2013 mental, physical, otherwise \u2013 the government better be there for me, but otherwise I don\u2019t want to be dependent on that.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000b3b6mj41vq8bp@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            CNN has reached out to Hegseth and the Trump transition for comment on this story.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000d3b6mveur2u8v@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The fight by pro-small government conservatives to privatize VA health care is not a new one, particularly as the VA has long been plagued with bureaucratic challenges, resulting in long wait times and sometimes dangerously delayed medical care for veterans.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000e3b6mptkyo1ax@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Hegseth told the \u201cShawn Ryan Show\u201d podcast last month that he is not explicitly advocating for privatizing the VA, but rather \u201cto effectively let the dollars follow the veteran\u201d to their preferred doctor.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000f3b6mqrtd5o7f@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Critics, though, say the \u201cunfettered choice\u201d narrative is a trojan horse for privatizing and ultimately dismantling the VA system altogether, whose budget was over $300 billion in 2024.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000g3b6mfmkbhpza@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Hegseth told Shawn Ryan that the VA \u201chates\u201d conversations about more private options \u201cbecause their budget might get reduced.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000h3b6mm5fobqk6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIt\u2019s a typical swampy feedback loop,\u201d he said. He added that when he was being considered for VA secretary in 2016, he heard from huge numbers of veterans who supported his ideas.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000i3b6mjros0to3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot who challenged Sen. Mitch McConnell for his seat in Kentucky in 2020, emphasized in a conversation with CNN that while the debate around privatization of care has been \u201cgoing on for years,\u201d there hasn\u2019t been a \u201cwide-spread<strong> <\/strong>outcry from veterans to privatize the VA.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000j3b6m2cts0vca@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI\u2019m not saying the VA is perfect, it\u2019s certainly not,\u201d McGrath, a Democrat, said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think there\u2019s this huge outcry to privatize it.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000k3b6mflaxypoz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            A senior Biden administration official told CNN that within the VA, there are a number of career civil servants \u201cwho have dedicated their lives to the health and welfare of the veterans our nation has sent to war repeatedly.\u201d Those civil servants are now deeply worried about \u201cthe continued health care and earned benefits of the veterans they serve,\u201d the official added.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000l3b6mpa154bd6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            As secretary of defense, Hegseth would oversee the Military Health System, which is separate from the Veterans Health Administration. But Hegseth is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/disaster-veteran-care-failures-obamacare-link-236170891.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">broadly skeptical<\/a> of government-provided health care, and has argued that health care benefits for both active duty servicemembers and veterans should be cut significantly so that the Pentagon can spend more on \u201cwar-fighting capability,\u201d according to a Wall Street Journal op-ed he wrote in 2014.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000m3b6mji33ncgk@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIf this continues, the Defense Department will eventually be a health care and pension provider that also happens to fight wars,\u201d he wrote.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000n3b6mrdln2en8@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            McGrath also said that while she understands the idea of trying to cut costs, there\u2019s been no data \u201cthat shows me that privatizing it is going to cut costs significantly.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000o3b6mwhhzka1l@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cHealth care is expensive, no matter how you go about it,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I fear, and I think a lot of people fear, you will lose quality of care, because now you\u2019re switching over veteran care to the private sector, the private sector has an incentive to make money\u2026health insurance makes money by denying care. Is that what we want?\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000q3b6mayxqwlqf@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            As CEO of the veterans organization Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, Hegseth <a href=\"https:\/\/cv4a.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Fixing-Veterans-Healthcare.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lobbied for providing VA health care <\/a>only to veterans with service-connected disabilities and specialized needs.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000r3b6m43xjnbmy@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That policy would significantly restrict the number of future veterans eligible for VA care at all. Hegseth\u2019s skepticism of the wide array of government benefits veterans have at their disposal has prompted outrage from veterans\u2019 groups.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000s3b6m2h4v9sqo@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Max Rose, an Army Reserve officer and Democratic former congressman who now serves as a senior adviser for progressive veteran organization VoteVets, called Hegseth\u2019s remarks \u201cmassively disrespectful\u201d to veterans, who have been trusted \u201cto go to war, to protect the homeland, defend our rights, and our way of life \u2013 and then we think they will come home and be an abusers of health care services?\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000t3b6m0k9pm6me@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Shulkin said some of Hegseth\u2019s ideas were not outlandish \u2013 he agrees that veterans should have some access to private care, particularly if VA wait times for an appointment are excessive. But he also said that Hegseth, as an outsider with no experience at the VA or in health care, didn\u2019t understand the \u201ccomplexities\u201d of the system he was trying to completely reshape.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000u3b6mdjmdi3t0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cAt the time, I was telling him, \u2018I\u2019m here on the ground, I know the reality,\u2019\u201d he told CNN in an interview on Wednesday. \u201cI see the patients, the veterans with PTSD. I\u2019ve been a doctor my whole life in the private sector. I know my hospitals that I ran didn\u2019t have the capability to care for these patients. I\u2019m not just going to give [veterans] a voucher and say, \u2018Good luck.\u2019\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000v3b6m3zdtwlr9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            As Shulkin\u2019s memoir demonstrates, Hegseth \u2013 and Concerned Veterans for America \u2013 has asserted significant influence over Trump on this issue. Trump considered tapping Hegseth for VA secretary in 2016, Hegseth told Ryan.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000w3b6my5rzasq7@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            By the time Trump took office, Hegseth had already stepped down from CVA amid reported accusations of financial mismanagement, frequent drunkenness and sexual harassment, all of which Hegseth denies. Still, CVA \u201cwas at the White House on a regular basis and showing up at meetings when I hadn\u2019t invited them,\u201d Shulkin wrote in his memoir. \u201cAt every turn, White House staff made sure CVA was given a strong voice.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000x3b6m3s43t484@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The progressive government watchdog American Oversight <a href=\"https:\/\/americanoversight.org\/documents-reveal-extent-of-koch-funded-va-privatization-groups-influence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">also documented<\/a> CVA\u2019s influence over Trump on this issue in the early years of his first administration.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq9000z3b6mb5wjrxiw@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Kate Kuzminski, the director of the military, veterans, and society program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), said there is a conversation that could be had about moving some veteran health services \u2013 particularly those services that are not for things directly linked to military service \u2013 into communities and outside of the VA. For example, an annual check-up, or getting a regular vaccination shot.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900103b6m6wlfyexb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But, she said, it brings up more questions particularly about how veterans in vulnerable communities, like those with low income, could continue accessing care if the VA is no longer an option for them.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900113b6mcp7h12q2@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThere is a potential for individuals who need access to care, either being delayed in accessing that or not being able to access it at all \u2026 and we as a nation have philosophically said, yeah, that is our responsibility,\u201d Kuzminski said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900123b6m6oreolvz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            When it comes to the military health system that the defense secretary directly oversees, the Pentagon this year began to re-evaluate its policy over the last decade of trying to reduce health care costs by cutting staff at military health facilities and outsourcing care to private doctors and hospitals.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900133b6mnftkq0tz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That move toward privatized care was making it harder for servicemembers to access doctors because of staffing shortages at military facilities and the fact that TriCare, which allows troops and their families to access private doctors and clinics, was either not being accepted by many private providers or only allowed access to subpar facilities, a DoD inspector general report found last year.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900143b6m5ahgdnja@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI can appreciate that it sounds good to advocate for people to have the most freedoms and abilities to choose,\u201d Shulkin said. \u201cThere\u2019s no question that that\u2019s an important part of health care. But you have to have a system you can send them to that knows how to deal with toxic exposures and post-traumatic stress, and the injuries that were happening to our young men and women who were coming back after IED explosions, and needed that type of complex prosthetic care.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900153b6mefqjej0n@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Rose echoed the same concerns that veterans may not be able to get the kind of holistic care they may need from a civilian health provider. Problems with VA health services \u2013 of which there are examples of, \u201cundeniably\u201d \u2013 are \u201creason to build upon our existing system, not to decimate it.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900163b6mqfbt672l@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cBeing able to walk into an institution and speak to someone who understands not just the experience of combat, but the experience of just being in the military \u2013 a private health care facility couldn\u2019t replace that,\u201d Rose said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900173b6mla42yb1q@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Kuzminski agreed there are issues the VA excels beyond civilian health care in treating, but said there has been \u201ca lot of progress\u201d in the last decade on electronic health records, which would allow military and civilian health providers to have a more well-rounded image of a veteran\u2019s health care needs.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900183b6mka4y4bjj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Shulkin said that he will reserve judgment on Hegseth\u2019s nomination until he sees him address the issues of servicemember and veteran care during his confirmation hearings. But he indicated that he hopes Hegseth\u2019s views have changed.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cm4d9lqq900193b6mx5zb06kj@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI do believe that what any good leader needs to do is to be able to recognize when their opinions should change or need to change,\u201d he said, \u201cand then to be able to articulate and express what their vision for leading the agency actually is.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/12\/07\/politics\/pete-hegseth-doug-collins-veterans-health-care\/index.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington CNN \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 \u201cGet Pete Hegseth on the phone!\u201d It was March 2018, and then-President Donald Trump was meeting with his Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary, Dr. David Shulkin, about &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=134476\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}