WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a reorganization that includes cutting over 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care and other services for millions of veterans, according to an internal memo obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.
The VA’s chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, told top-level officials at the agency Tuesday that it had an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act.
The memo instructs top-level staff to prepare for an agency-wide reorganization in August to “resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure.” It also calls for agency officials to work with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency to “move out aggressively, while taking a pragmatic and disciplined approach” to the Trump administration’s goals. Government Executive first reported on the internal memo.
“Things need to change,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in a video posted on social media Wednesday afternoon, adding that the layoffs would not mean cuts to veterans’ health care or benefits.
“This administration is finally going to give the veterans what they want,” Collins said. “President Trump has a mandate for generational change in Washington and that’s exactly what we’re going to deliver at the VA.”
Veterans have already been speaking out against the cuts at the VA that so far had included a few thousand employees and hundreds of contracts. More than 25% of the VA’s workforce is comprised of veterans.
The plans underway at the VA showed how the Trump administration’s DOGE initiative, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is not holding back on an all-out effort to slash federal agencies, even for those that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement that the president “refuses to accept the VA bureaucracy and bloat that has hindered veterans’ ability to receive timely and quality care.” She added that the changes would “ensure greater efficiency and transparency” at the VA.
The VA last year experienced its highest-ever service levels, reaching over 9 million enrollees and delivering more than 127.5 million health care appointments, according to the agency’s figures.
However, Michael Missal, who was the VA’s inspector general for nine years until he was fired last month as part of Trump’s sweeping dismissal of independent oversight officials at government agencies, told the AP that the VA is already suffering from a lack of “expertise” as top-level officials either leave or are shuffled around under the president’s plans.
“What’s going to happen is VA’s not going to perform as well for veterans, and veterans are going to get harmed,” said Missal, who was a guest of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. at Trump’s Tuesday address to Congress.
Rather than leaning on the missions of inspectors general, whose job is to search out waste and fraud at government agencies, Trump has moved forcefully against them, flouting statutes that require a 30-day notice and specific reasons for their dismissals. Missal is challenging his dismissal in court alongside seven other fired inspectors general.
Missal described the VA as “a really complicated, hard to manage organization” that is similar in size to the largest corporations in America. He defended his work at the agency as committed to make it more efficient and responsive to veterans. By Missal’s count, the VA inspector general’s oversight resulted in $45 billion being saved at the agency during his tenure.
But he added that Trump’s actions against the inspectors general is making it more difficult for the officials still in those offices to do their jobs.
In Congress, Democrats have decried the cuts at the VA and other agencies, while Republicans have so far watched with caution the Trump administration’s changes.
Rep. Mike Bost, the Republican chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement that he would “continue to ask questions and keep a close eye on how, or if, this plan evolves.”
“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,” Bost added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the Republican chair of the Senate Budget Committee, was displeased the VA had not given lawmakers an advance notification of the changes, saying it was “political malpractice not to consult Congress.”
“Maybe you’ve got a good reason to do it,” he said. “But we don’t need to be reading memos in the paper about a 20% cut at the VA.”
The changes underway at the VA are already prompting worry among veteran’s groups as they face layoffs and confusion about whether their services will be affected.
Brent Reiffer, a Marine veteran who receives medical care through the VA and advocates with the Wounded Warrior Project, said that among his community “confusion that leads to frustration” is setting in.
“If you draw that to a conclusion sometimes, it’s the veteran just throws the hands up and sort of doesn’t go to the VA,” Reiffer said. “What you end up with is a lot of veterans that are not getting the care that they deserve.”
Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees veteran’s affairs, said in a statement that the Trump administration “has launched an all-out assault” against progress the VA has made in expanding its services as the number of covered veterans grows and includes those impacted by toxic burn pits.
“Their plan prioritizes private sector profits over veterans’ care, balancing the budget on the backs of those who served. It’s a shameful betrayal, and veterans will pay the price for their unforgivable corruption, incompetence, and immorality,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
Democratic leaders in the House also spotlighted the impact of Trump’s cuts on veterans Wednesday.
Rep. Katherine Clark, the No. 2 ranked in House Democratic leadership, said at a news conference, “Democrats are here to say in unison we will not allow our veterans to be defined as government waste.”
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro contributed reporting.
