US Veterans Affairs Plans to Fire 84,000 Workers: Memo

The VA chief of staff says the agency’s goal is to return to staffing levels from 2019—or just under 400,000 employees.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington on Nov. 18, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is planning to terminate more than 80,000 workers, according to a new memorandum.

The memo from VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek, which was obtained by Reuters, was sent to other senior officials on March 4.

Syrek said the agency’s goal is to return to staffing levels from 2019—or just under 400,000 employees—which would mean laying off about 84,000 workers.

The VA did not respond to a request for comment.

Syrek’s memo directed agency staff to work with Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to make the cuts. According to the department, the VA recently had a headcount of 486,522.

Under President Donald Trump’s directive, Musk, the department, and the Office of Personnel Management have been working with agencies to identify and dismiss workers who are deemed unnecessary.

Tens of thousands of government employees have been fired since Trump took office, in addition to about 75,000 who accepted buyouts through the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program.

The VA announced in mid-February that it had terminated more than 1,000 employees, including some who were still on probationary status as they had held their jobs for less than a year. Two weeks later, the agency said it had fired more than 1,400 additional workers who had been designated as being in “non-mission critical positions.”

VA Secretary Doug Collins, a former Georgia congressman, has said the personnel decisions were difficult.

“But VA is focused on allocating its resources to help as many Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors as possible,” he said in a statement in February, adding that the moves would not hurt the health care or benefits the VA provides.

“In fact, Veterans are going to notice a change for the better. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work, helping the department fulfill its core mission: providing the best possible care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees veteran affairs, said in a statement that the cuts represented “an all-out assault ... attacking the VA workforce and the veterans it serves.”

He said the planned terminations appeared to be a step toward privatizing VA services.

“It’s a shameful betrayal, and veterans will pay the price for their unforgivable corruption, incompetence, and immorality,” Blumenthal said in the statement.

At least some of the cuts could be challenged in court or by the Office of Special Counsel. The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, acting on the office’s response, on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate nearly 6,000 workers who were on probationary status when they were fired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Reuters contributed to this report.