The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins accused a reporter of spreading “rumors” and “innuendo” about the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) actions at the agency in an interview that went viral on social media.
In a clip posted to his X account on Tuesday, Collins confronted Military.com reporter Patricia Kime about her February 5 article entitled, “Elon Musk Aide Is Now Working at VA and Accessing Its Computer Systems.”
Collins pulled out a printed copy of the report and accused Kime of trying to “scare” veterans by citing unconfirmed rumors about DOGE’s actions at the department.
“All I seem to be doing lately is fighting back against innuendo and rumor stories… In fact, Patricia, part of it is with you,” he said, handing the paper to Kime.
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“I just need your help because when you start headlines with ‘There’s a rumor going around’ and that ‘we’ve heard that,’ that hurts my veterans, that scares my veterans. That scares my employees. Because it’s not true,” Collins said.
“Will you commit to not doing that in the future?” he pressed the reporter.
Collins went on to tell Kime she should have asked a DOGE liaison about these rumors, to which she said she did.
The Military.com report cited “rumors” about DOGE employees visiting the VA that week “with an intent to mine data on disability compensation and benefits.”
The report quoted a VA spokesperson confirming a single DOGE employee would be tasked with identifying waste and improving efficiency but denied this individual would have access to veterans’ or beneficiaries’ data.
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Collins criticized Kime for citing unsubstantiated claims from the start, telling her these claims about DOGE were either “true or false.”
He proceeded to scold the reporter for citing a press release from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in which the senator claimed DOGE “may have barged into the VA” that day.
That’s “unconfirmed hearsay,” Collins said, and told Kime she should have called it an “unconfirmed report.”
“So, Patricia, I want to work together with you, but I need you to commit to me that you’re not gonna do this,” he said.
“That’s fair. I’m working on it,” Kime responded before attempting to ask Collins a follow-up question, but he continued to press her to answer his question.
“No, I want to hear the answer first. Are you committing not to do rumors? Because you’re scaring my VA employees about this and you’re scaring my veterans,” he said.
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Kime pushed back on Collins’ characterization of her report, saying, “I take issue with parsing out my stuff, but that’s fine.”
Collins continued to argue with Kime about her headline and the details in her reporting before saying, “I want to work with you a lot as we go forward. We’re going to have a lot of time together. But I’m not gonna have any reporter scaring my employees and scaring the veterans. And that’s what this is doing. Let’s get it right.”
“I’m the most transparent VA secretary we’ve had yet. I’m on video, I’m on interviews, I do everything I possibly can to push back against everything I’m hearing. So, we got a team that will help you, but I need your commitment to help me, too,” he added.
The clip of the interview had racked up over 1 million views on Collins’ X account in less than 24 hours.
Zachary Fryer-Biggs, managing editor for Military.com, defended Kime in a fiery response posted to X and shared with Fox News Digital.
“Mr. Secretary – You willfully misrepresented what was in that story, one where your own press office confirmed the details, and was quoted. Patricia is not going to be distracted by this nonsense, she’s going to continue doing the important reporting she’s done for years,” Fryer-Biggs wrote on X.
When reached for comment, an official for the VA told Fox News Digital, “Without even citing a source, Patricia Kime reported on ‘rumors’ that DOGE representatives would access VA disability compensation and benefits information.”
Collins has defended DOGE cuts at the VA as part of the new administration’s efforts to reform the department and better serve veterans.
In a press release last month, the VA announced that the dismissal of more than 1,000 employees would enable the department to redirect over $98 million per year in resources back to health care, benefits and services for VA beneficiaries.
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