Blumenthal, Committee Democrats Ring Alarm, Demand Immediate Answers on Collins’ Plan to Cut 83,000 Jobs at VA
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and every Democratic Committee member teamed up with House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA) and numerous House Democratic Committee members today to write to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins demanding immediate answers regarding the disastrous impact of the Trump Administration’s plans to cut more than 80,000 VA employees this year—including at least 20,000 veterans. This plan to slash VA’s workforce to fiscal year 2019 levels was detailed in an internal memo that was leaked last week.
The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Democratic members expressed their extreme concern with the impact this massive reduction in force plan will have on veterans—despite Collins’ unsupported claims that scaling back VA’s workforce by at least 15% will have no impact on VA care or benefits: “This planned [Reduction in Force] and [Reorganization Plan], coupled with the ongoing hiring freeze and illegal terminations of probationary employees, will be catastrophic for the agency; its workforce; and for the veterans, caregivers, and survivors it serves… You have promised on several occasions that any reductions in the VA workforce will not impact delivery of care and benefits to veterans.”
“It defies logic and reason that the agency could cut an additional 83,000 employees, beyond the 2,400 or more you have already terminated, without healthcare and benefits being interrupted.”
The Committee members emphasized the harm in reducing VA’s workforce back to pre-PACT Act levels: “Congress passed the Honoring Our PACT Act in 2022, which authorized the largest expansion of veterans’ benefits in decades. Millions of veterans either became newly eligible for VA benefits or saw their benefits increase due to authorities in the PACT Act. (Note: The PACT Act is a law that expanded VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances.) To meet the growth in demand and to deliver the care and benefits veterans earned, Congress included provisions in the legislation that allowed VA to grow its workforce across the system…These new hires made the Department more efficient and productive, and the reduction in claims processing turnaround can be directly attributed to the growth in the workforce. Returning to pre-PACT levels explicitly goes against Congressional intent.”
The letter was sent by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Blumenthal, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Takano, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Angus King (I-ME), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Elisa Slotkin (D-MI), and Democratic members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
