According to The Washington Post, internal VA memos outline a plan to remove roughly 26,400 vacant position, mostly doctors, nurses, and support staff, as part of an ongoing effort to “streamline operations” within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the nation’s largest government-run health care system. VA spokesperson Pete Kasperowicz described the move as “housekeeping” that would have “no effect on VA operations or the way the department delivers care.”
Yet veterans’ advocates and employee unions remain skeptical. The planned reductions come at a time when the VA has already lost tens of thousands of workers through attrition and buyouts this year, sparking concerns that patient care may soon suffer as remaining staff shoulder heavier workloads.
Deep Cuts to Pandemic-Era Roles Amid Workforce Strain
Agency leaders have instructed managers to identify positions that can be permanently eliminated, focusing on jobs created during the COVID-19 response that have remained open for more than a year. According to reports, the downsizing aims to reduce the VA’s health care workforce to about 372,000 employees, a roughly 10 percent drop compared to last year.
While the VA emphasizes that the cuts will primarily target unfilled roles, the timing has raised alarms among both lawmakers and front-line employees. “The VA has been chronically understaffed for years,” said Thomas Dargon Jr., deputy general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents over 320,000 VA workers. “Employees are going to be facing the brunt of any further job cuts or reorganizations that result in having to do more work with less.”
Staff members in regional offices and medical centers have reported that their hospitals were told “no department would be spared.” In San Diego, for example, VA director Frank Pearson announced the cancellation of 322 vacant positions, including dozens in mental health. According to employees there, veterans already face wait times of up to 90 days for mental health appointments — a delay they fear will worsen if hiring freezes continue.
Balancing Efficiency and Care Access for Veterans
The VA leadership insists the reductions will help modernize the agency’s structure, reduce administrative overhead, and free up funding for direct patient services. The move follows broader federal efforts to curb government spending and shrink bureaucratic layers across agencies. Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas A. Collins reportedly abandoned an earlier plan to cut 15 percent of the agency’s workforce through firings, opting instead for attrition-based reductions.
Yet critics argue that eliminating funded but unfilled jobs limits the agency’s ability to expand care capacity as demand rises. Enrollment in VA health programs surged after the passage of the PACT Act, which extended benefits to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. “We’re going to continue to do more with less,” said Sharda Fornnarino, a VA nurse and union leader in Colorado. “We’re going to continue to be overworked.”
As the VA finalizes its reorganization, Congress has begun tightening oversight. Lawmakers have tied the agency’s funding to maintaining certain staffing levels, particularly for suicide prevention and benefits processing. The ongoing debate underscores a difficult balance: ensuring fiscal responsibility while safeguarding the health care network that millions of veterans depend on.
