The Veterans Affairs Building in Washington, D.C. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — A large-scale reduction in the workforce of 80,000 employees planned for hospitals and clinics run by the Department of Veterans Affairs is no longer being considered for fiscal 2025, VA Secretary Doug Collins announced Monday.
A federal hiring freeze imposed since February — along with deferred resignations, early retirements and regular turnover from attrition — will yield a decrease of 30,000 full-time personnel through September and eliminate the need for sweeping layoffs, he said. The agency as a result does not anticipate further staff reductions, Collins said.
The announcement officially puts to rest the VA’s plan to eliminate more than 80,000 jobs under a major restructuring disclosed in the spring.
The planned layoffs were revealed in a leaked memo from VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek, who directed agency leaders to work with the Department of Government Efficiency to “achieve efficiencies dictated” by President Donald Trump. The memo became public in March, after it was leaked to several news outlets.
Addressed to “undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and other key officials,” the memo stated the VA would return to 2019 staffing levels.
But Peter Kasperowicz, the VA press secretary, said Monday that the VA will meet its workforce goals in September with 30,000 fewer full-time employees without the need for additional personnel reductions.
“VA is not planning to make any other major changes to staffing levels beyond those outlined in the release,” he said, referring to a written statement the agency published Monday.
Collins said in the statement that he has been working since March to reorganize the VA, the federal government’s second-largest agency next to the Defense Department. The goal was to deliver veterans services and care more efficiently.
“As a result of our efforts, VA is headed in the right direction — both in terms of staff levels and customer service. A department-wide RIF [reduction in force] is off the table, but that doesn’t mean we’re done improving VA. Our review has resulted in a host of new ideas for better serving veterans that we will continue to pursue,” Collins said.
Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, lauded Collins’ work to decrease the number of VA employees and comply with Trump’s executive order for streamlining the federal workforce.
“From the very beginning I have long said that I had full confidence in Secretary Collins and the Trump administration to make the right decision surrounding any plans to reduce VA’s workforce,” he said.
But Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said a “toxic work environment” created by “slash and trash policies” has led to departures that are unsustainable and affecting veterans care.
The VA in June employed 467,000 workers at field offices, medical centers and outpatient clinics across the nation, according to the agency. That number is 17,000 fewer employees than the VA had in January, when the staffing level was 484,000, the agency said.
But the VA expects another 12,000 staff members to leave by Sept. 30 — the end of fiscal 2025 — from normal attrition, voluntary early retirement and deferred resignation.
Deferred resignation refers to an offer the Office of Personnel Management made across federal agencies in February that allowed full-time workers to resign with paid administrative leave through Sept. 30.
Bost on Monday also criticized Democratic lawmakers for recent attacks against VA leaders before any formal plans on reforming the VA were disclosed.
“With today’s announcement from Secretary Collins, those who have spent the last six months yelling from the sidelines should have held off their criticism of potential plans until a plan was actually in place,” he said.
But a closer look at the VA job functions will continue to improve efficiencies, Collins said.
The VA is examining ways to centralize more administrative functions in areas that include procurement, construction, information technology and budgeting, according to VA.
The agency also is looking at consolidating some of the 274 separate call centers that it runs with modernized systems that provide quicker service with fewer staff. The VA also is consolidating many payroll functions.
