Department of Veterans Affairs will slash more than 80,000 jobs under a major restructuring plan that the agency intends to carry out by August to meet President Trump’s executive order for downsizing the federal government, according to internal VA memo.
The Department of Veterans Affairs will slash more than 80,000 jobs under a major restructuring plan that the agency intends to carry out by August to meet President Donald Trump’s executive order for downsizing the federal government, according to an internal VA memo.
The memo sent Tuesday by VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek directed agency leaders to work with the Department of Government Efficiency to reduce and reorganize the VA to “achieve efficiencies dictated” by Trump’s Feb. 13 order for decreasing the federal workforce. The memo became public after it was leaked to several media outlets.
Addressed to “undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and other key officials,” the memo calls for returning VA’s staff to 2019 levels, when the agency employed 399,000 workers. A hiring surge has nearly doubled that number today.
The Trump administration already imposed a hiring freeze and two rounds of layoffs in February that resulted in the loss of 5,000 jobs. Veterans, who are given preference in hiring, make up about one-third of federal employees.
Rep. Mark Takano of California, the top Democrat on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, blasted the plan for the large-scale cuts. He warned on social media Tuesday that firing 83,000 VA employees “will create chaos across every aspect of VA, delaying benefits, straining claims processing, and making it nearly impossible for student veterans and schools to get the assistance they need.”
Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., the chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said Wednesday that he has been in contact with VA Secretary Doug Collins about the potential cuts to the VA workforce and how they could affect veterans.
“I have questions about the impact these reductions and discussions could have on the delivery of services, especially following the implementation of the PACT Act,” he said, referring to the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act. More than one million veterans applied for VA health care and benefits under the PACT Act.
“No one can argue with the fact that we want to see veterans, their families, and their survivors have access to the care and benefits they have earned with the most responsible, modern, and efficient VA budget and workforce,” Bost said.
The VA is the second-largest federal agency after the Defense Department. It has approximately 482,000 employees who process and deliver benefits and services, including disability compensation, health care, tuition assistance pensions and burial services.
According to the memo, the VA is expected to complete a reorganization draft plan by April 14 and submit it to the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget.
A VA “reorganization implementation cell” represented by different departments within the agency will be set up to serve as program manager and track the reorganization through completion in 2025, the memo said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, predicted large-scale cuts to VA’s workforce will undermine accomplishments of the PACT Act.
“Congress worked in a bipartisan manner to pass the PACT Act and equip VA with the tools and resources needed to serve more veterans than ever. This administration has launched an all-out assault undermining that progress and attacking the VA workforce and the veterans it serves,” he said.
The VA expanded staff by more than 60,000 to meet demand by veterans filing for benefits and health care following the legislation adoption in 2022. The legislation awarded disability compensation to veterans with illnesses connected to their exposure to hazardous materials while on active duty that included burn pits, radiation and industrial solvents.
“This memo makes [the administration’s] goal crystal clear: They want to roll back the PACT Act by cutting 80,000 jobs — including 20,000 veterans — while starving VA’s ability to meet increased demand in order to justify privatizing VA,” Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal and Takano said they believe the Trump administration’s ultimate goal is to shift spending from VA health care to the private sector.
Trump said Tuesday night in his first address to Congress since re-election that his administration is “reclaiming power from an unaccountable bureaucracy” through the workforce reductions. The federal government employs about 2.4 million people.
- Veterans Healthcare