Sen. Gallego Announces Blanket Hold on Veterans Affairs Nominees to Protest Planned Staff Cuts

Last month, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins confirmed he is seeking to reduce the department’s workforce back to its 2019 levels.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) speaks during the opening session of the National Treasury Employees Union Legislative Conference at the Hilton Washington D.C. National Mall, The Wharf on March 4, 2025. Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP Photo

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) announced on April 1 that he would impose a blanket hold on all Department of Veterans Affairs nominees in protest of a plan to cut more than 80,000 jobs at the department.

Reports emerged on March 4, based on a leaked memo attributed to the department chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, that the Trump administration seeks to cut as many as 84,000 Veterans Affairs jobs. Such a cut, if enacted, would bring the department back to its 2019 staffing level of around 400,000 employees.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins subsequently confirmed, in a March 5 video statement, that he would pursue the cuts described in the leaked memo. In his video statement, Collins insisted the department can achieve these workforce reductions “without making cuts to healthcare or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries.”

Despite Collins’s efforts to reassure the public, Gallego has continued to express concerns that the cuts will negatively impact the services on which Veterans Affairs beneficiaries rely.

“As a veteran who used VA care, I know intimately the importance of having a health care system our veterans and their families can rely on,” Gallego, a Marine Corps combat veteran, said in a Tuesday press statement. “Secretary Collins and DOGE cutting 83,000 jobs from the VA is extremely concerning, and for that reason, I will place a blanket hold on all VA nominees until Secretary Collins commits to abandoning this sloppy attempt to cut benefits and services for our nation’s veterans.”

Often, the U.S. Senate advances multiple nominees through the confirmation process at once, in what’s known as an en bloc action. Such an en bloc action requires the Senate to act by unanimous consent.

On occasion, senators have imposed a blanket hold on such en bloc actions as a means of protesting a disfavored policy. Should a senator impose such a hold, the body can still confirm nominees, but it has to do so one by one in a slower and more deliberative process.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) imposed a blanket hold on all Defense Department nominees in 2023 in protest of a policy that allowed the department to fund leave and travel expenses for personnel seeking abortions. Tuberville contended that the Defense Department policy violated the Hyde Amendment, which broadly prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for abortions.

As Tuberville’s hold wore on, the backlog of Defense Department nominees awaiting Senate confirmation grew. Eventually, some Republicans started to join Senate Democrats in demanding Tuberville end his protest hold. The Alabama Republican eventually narrowed his protest action, dropping his hold on most Defense Department nominees.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has 13 positions requiring Senate confirmation, according to the Partnership for Public Service. Collins currently holds one of the positions, while Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence holds a second. President Donald Trump has chosen nominees for five other positions in the department.

In his March 5 video statement, Collins outlined how the Department of Veterans Affairs would perform more efficiently, including by reviewing its various contracts. He said upon reviewing just 2 percent of the department’s contracts, the department has managed to eliminate 600 agreements that he said were not mission-critical or duplicative, and would save the department around $900 million.

Veterans Affairs press secretary Pete Kasperowicz emailed a statement to The Epoch Times on Tuesday about Gallego’s move.

“Imagine how much better off Veterans would be if lawmakers like Sen. Gallego cared as much about fixing VA as they do about protecting the department’s broken bureaucracy,” Kasperowicz said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.