The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) plans to eliminate 80,000 jobs by August 2025 as part of an aggressive reorganization to reduce its workforce to pre-2020 levels of just under 400,000 employees.
An internal memo from VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek directed senior officials to collaborate with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, to implement these cuts. The memo stated that top-level officials should prepare to “resize and tailor the workforce to the mission and revised structure.”
The VA expanded its workforce during the Biden administration to address increased demands, including those related to the 2022 PACT Act, which extended coverage to veterans affected by burn pits.
Veterans’ groups and lawmakers have expressed concerns about the potential impact of these cuts on services and care for veterans. Approximately 25% of VA employees are veterans themselves, raising alarms about the agency’s capacity to fulfill its mission.
In response to these concerns, VA Secretary Doug Collins stated that the reorganization aims to allocate resources more effectively and will not negatively affect veterans’ healthcare or benefits. “These and other recent personnel decisions are extraordinarily difficult, but VA is focused on allocating its resources to help as many Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors as possible,” Collins said in a statement.”
He emphasized that the goal is to enhance services for veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. “These moves will not hurt VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In fact, Veterans are going to notice a change for the better,” he went on to add.
