Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins went on offense Tuesday night on Newsmax's "Carl Higbie: FRONTLINE," moving quickly to calm veterans and their families after a proposed disability-rating rule change triggered outrage and confusion.
Collins said the controversy erupted around a proposed final rule change tied to an amendment to Section 4.10 of the Code of Federal Regulations for Evaluating a Veteran's Disability Rating, but stressed it was being distorted into something it was not.
"I'm an old chaplain," he said. "I have an old saying that says if it's a mist in the pulpit, it's a fog in the congregation, and this is exactly what happened."
Collins said he received a letter from Senate Democrats and others that included claims he described as false and inflammatory.
He cited one line saying, "an active-duty veteran was concerned that their disabled, military, retired spouse was going to lose their disability if they didn't take any medication."
"That's a lie," Collins said. "That was just a straight-up lie."
He underscored that veterans with existing disability ratings were never at risk.
"Anybody who had their disability rating, nothing would have changed at all," Collins said, adding the proposal was connected to a judge's ruling that could have made it harder in the future "to get to the underlying cause of how we can rate veterans going forward."
Still, he said the VA saw the confusion spreading — and saw political actors trying to capitalize on it.
"What I found out was, not only did people not understand it, people were not telling the truth about it," Collins said.
So, the department hit the brakes, rescinding the rule within 24 hours.
"Now we've actually pulled down the rule," he said. "This doesn't apply at all."
Collins portrayed the quick reversal as proof the VA is shifting away from entrenched bureaucracy.
"This is not the old VA," he said. "This is a new administration VA," arguing previous leadership would have let "the same old bureaucratic crap" roll forward instead of fixing the issue, he added.
Collins said the administration is focused on measurable results — lowering the disability claims backlog, opening new facilities, reducing wait times, and improving access to community care — "because we put the veteran first."
He also pointed to what he called a broader problem in Washington.
"There are some people who are invested in a broken system, members of Congress and others," Collins said, adding that "some organizations" prefer the VA broken so they can say, "Look how bad it is. See what I did to help?" while "really do nothing."
"I don't do that," he said. "I just fix problems."
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight's special series and President Trump's comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.