WASHINGTON: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is reportedly planning to reduce its workforce by more than 80,000 employees, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters. The proposed cuts have sparked criticism from military veteran groups and Democratic lawmakers, who argue that the move could severely impact services for veterans.
The memo, sent by VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek to senior officials on Tuesday, outlines the agency’s goal to return to its 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000 employees. This would require eliminating approximately 82,000 positions. The directive also instructs agency staff to collaborate with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to implement the reductions, emphasizing objectives such as “eliminating waste” and “increasing workforce efficiency.”
The VA, which provides critical benefits and healthcare services to military veterans, is one of the most respected government agencies in the U.S. The scale of the proposed layoffs far exceeds cuts planned at other federal departments, raising concerns about the potential impact on veteran care.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins addressed the controversy in a video posted on social media platform X, stating, “It’s extraordinarily difficult for me, especially as a VA leader and your secretary, to make these types of decisions. But the federal government does not exist to employ people. It exists to serve people.”
Critics, however, argue that the cuts will harm veterans and their families. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 311,000 VA workers, warned, “Veterans and their families will suffer unnecessarily.”
The layoffs are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration, in collaboration with Elon Musk, to reduce the size and cost of the federal government. To date, approximately 25,000 federal workers have been terminated, and another 75,000 have accepted buyouts, according to Reuters.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, condemned the move as a “full-scale, no-holds-barred assault on veterans” that puts their health benefits in “grave danger.” Similarly, Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, accused the administration of attempting to privatize VA services, calling the cuts a “shameful betrayal.”
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, expressed surprise at the scale of the proposed reductions, noting, “If you’re a veteran, reading this in the paper would kind of rattle you.”
The news of the VA layoffs emerged on the same day the Trump administration faced a temporary setback in its broader efforts to reduce the federal workforce. A review board ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reinstate thousands of workers who had been terminated as part of the administration’s layoff initiative. Additionally, the Office of Personnel Management revised a memo to clarify that it is not advising agencies to fire probationary employees on performance-related grounds, though individual agencies retain discretion over such decisions.
Naveed Shah, political director of the grassroots veterans group Common Defence, criticized the planned cuts, stating, “He’s gutting the system that was designed to care for our brothers and sisters in arms.”
The proposed layoffs come amid ongoing debates over the future of veterans’ healthcare, particularly following the 2018 law signed by Trump that expanded veterans’ access to private-sector healthcare funded by the VA. The controversy highlights the tension between efforts to streamline government operations and the need to maintain essential services for veterans.
