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Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas A. Collins speaks during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony on Capitol Hill on June 26. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

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VA plans to abruptly eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs

Strains on the Veterans Affairs system could grow with the elimination of as many as 35,000 mostly unfilled health care positions, including doctors and nurses.

Updated December 13, 2025, 7 min, By Meryl Kornfield, Hannah Natanson and Lisa Rein.

Government reporters Meryl Kornfield, Hannah Natanson and Lisa Rein can be reached securely on Signal at (301) 821-2013, (202) 580-5477 and (202) 821-3120, respectively.

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to abruptly eliminate as many as 35,000 health care positions this month, mostly unfilled jobs including doctors, nurses and support staff, according to an internal memo, VA staffers and congressional aides.

The cuts come after a massive reorganization effort already resulted in the loss of almost 30,000 employees this year.

Agency leaders have instructed managers across the Veterans Health Administration, the agency’s health care arm, to identify thousands of openings that can be canceled. Employees warn that the contraction will add pressure to an already stretched system, contributing to longer wait times for care.

The decision comes after Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas A. Collins, under political pressure from Congress, backed away from a plan to slash 15 percent of the agency’s workforce through mass firings. Instead, VA lost almost 30,000 employees this year from buyout offers and attrition.

🏛️Following Politics

The agency hopes that the cuts will reduce the health care workforce to as little as 372,000 employees, a 10 percent reduction from last year, according to a memo shared with regional leaders last month and obtained by The Washington Post. Details of the cuts came into focus in recent days, according to 17 staffers at VA and congressional aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they didn’t have permission to share plans.

VA spokesman Pete Kasperowicz confirmed the planned cuts for unfilled positions. He said the health care system is eliminating about 26,400 of its open jobs, which he described as “mostly covid-era roles that are no longer necessary.”

“The vast majority of these positions have not been filled for more than a year, underscoring how they are no longer needed,” he wrote in response to questions. “This move will have no effect on VA operations or the way the department delivers care to Veterans, as we are simply eliminating open and unfilled positions that are no longer needed.”

The nation’s largest government-run health care system has struggled to fill vacancies amid a broader national shortage of health care workers and a strained federal workforce. Job applications to the agency have also fallen 57 percent from last year, according to the agency’s workforce report last month.

This reorganization comes in advance of an expected announcement next week that Collins plans to also shrink the network of 18 regional offices that administer the nation’s VA hospitals and medical centers, according to four people familiar with the plan. Staff at those regional offices help determine policies and manage staffing. Collins and others have been critical of the agency’s top-heavy administrative offices, arguing that staffing cuts there will free up more resources for health care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Michael A. McCoy / For The Washington Post)

The health system grew by tens of thousands of employees under the Biden administration as more veterans enrolled in VA health care after passage of the PACT Act, which expanded benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. Then-secretary Denis McDonough urged veterans to be seen by VA doctors rather than request referrals to private practitioners outside the system.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: VA looks to abruptly eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs – The Washington Post

#10000Jobs #Abruptly #DepartmentOfVeteransAffairs #DouglasACollins #Eliminate #HealthCareJobs #HealthSystem #PACTAct #ShrinkRegionalOffices #TheWashingtonPost #Trump #TrumpsCuts #VA #VeteransAffairs #VeteransAffairsSecretary #WashintonDC

#washintondc #veteransaffairssecretary #veteransaffairs #va #trumpscuts #trump

DrWeb @[email protected] · 2025-12-18 · 20:06 UTC

VA looks to abruptly eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs – The Washington Post

Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas A. Collins speaks during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony on Capitol Hill on June 26. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

WP Exclusive

VA plans to abruptly eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs

Strains on the Veterans Affairs system could grow with the elimination of as many as 35,000 mostly unfilled health care positions, including doctors and nurses.

Updated December 13, 2025, 7 min, By Meryl Kornfield, Hannah Natanson and Lisa Rein.

Government reporters Meryl Kornfield, Hannah Natanson and Lisa Rein can be reached securely on Signal at (301) 821-2013, (202) 580-5477 and (202) 821-3120, respectively.

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to abruptly eliminate as many as 35,000 health care positions this month, mostly unfilled jobs including doctors, nurses and support staff, according to an internal memo, VA staffers and congressional aides.

The cuts come after a massive reorganization effort already resulted in the loss of almost 30,000 employees this year.

Agency leaders have instructed managers across the Veterans Health Administration, the agency’s health care arm, to identify thousands of openings that can be canceled. Employees warn that the contraction will add pressure to an already stretched system, contributing to longer wait times for care.

The decision comes after Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas A. Collins, under political pressure from Congress, backed away from a plan to slash 15 percent of the agency’s workforce through mass firings. Instead, VA lost almost 30,000 employees this year from buyout offers and attrition.

🏛️Following Politics

The agency hopes that the cuts will reduce the health care workforce to as little as 372,000 employees, a 10 percent reduction from last year, according to a memo shared with regional leaders last month and obtained by The Washington Post. Details of the cuts came into focus in recent days, according to 17 staffers at VA and congressional aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they didn’t have permission to share plans.

VA spokesman Pete Kasperowicz confirmed the planned cuts for unfilled positions. He said the health care system is eliminating about 26,400 of its open jobs, which he described as “mostly covid-era roles that are no longer necessary.”

“The vast majority of these positions have not been filled for more than a year, underscoring how they are no longer needed,” he wrote in response to questions. “This move will have no effect on VA operations or the way the department delivers care to Veterans, as we are simply eliminating open and unfilled positions that are no longer needed.”

The nation’s largest government-run health care system has struggled to fill vacancies amid a broader national shortage of health care workers and a strained federal workforce. Job applications to the agency have also fallen 57 percent from last year, according to the agency’s workforce report last month.

This reorganization comes in advance of an expected announcement next week that Collins plans to also shrink the network of 18 regional offices that administer the nation’s VA hospitals and medical centers, according to four people familiar with the plan. Staff at those regional offices help determine policies and manage staffing. Collins and others have been critical of the agency’s top-heavy administrative offices, arguing that staffing cuts there will free up more resources for health care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Michael A. McCoy / For The Washington Post)

The health system grew by tens of thousands of employees under the Biden administration as more veterans enrolled in VA health care after passage of the PACT Act, which expanded benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. Then-secretary Denis McDonough urged veterans to be seen by VA doctors rather than request referrals to private practitioners outside the system.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: VA looks to abruptly eliminate tens of thousands of health care jobs – The Washington Post

#10000Jobs #Abruptly #DepartmentOfVeteransAffairs #DouglasACollins #Eliminate #HealthCareJobs #HealthSystem #PACTAct #ShrinkRegionalOffices #TheWashingtonPost #Trump #TrumpsCuts #VA #VeteransAffairs #VeteransAffairsSecretary #WashintonDC

#10000jobs #abruptly #departmentofveteransaffairs #douglasacollins #eliminate #healthcarejobs

beSpacific @[email protected] · 2025-08-18 · 14:41 UTC

#trump continues to shatter #democracy in #America today he posted https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/32604 End to #MailInBallots & #VotingMachines. There will be immediate appeals #SupremeCourt. #Trump announced he will issue #executiveorder 2 #eliminate #MailInBallots & #voting machines ahead of 2026 midterm #elections arguing they R vulnerable 2 #fraud. Dems warn this would disenfranchise #voters & #legal experts stress that states, not president, have authority over election administration #maga #elections

#trump #executiveorder #eliminate #mailinballots #voting #elections

social media ᳇ eicker.news @[email protected] · 2025-07-17 · 18:29 UTC

The #USSenate voted to #eliminate $1.1 billion in #funding for the #Corporation for #PublicBroadcasting (#CPB), which supports #NPR and #PBS stations. The funding cut, part of President #Trump’s rescissions package, would impact local public #radio and #television stations, potentially leading to closures and reduced access to #emergencyalerts and #educationalprogramming. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/07/senate-votes-to-kill-entire-public-broadcasting-budget-in-blow-to-npr-and-pbs/?eicker.media #media #socialmedia

#ussenate #eliminate #funding #corporation #publicbroadcasting #cpb

beSpacific @[email protected] · 2025-07-04 · 00:53 UTC

#Trump keeps saying the #GOP mega bill will #eliminate #taxes on #SocialSecurity. It does not. And the #SocialSecurityAdministration tonight sent an email to all individuals who registered on the agency's site stating this - which is a #LIE "The bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security #beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits, providing meaningful, immediate relief to seniors who have spent a lifetime contributing to our nation's economy." Share the Facts

#trump #gop #eliminate #taxes #socialsecurity #socialsecurityadministration

Random Magic @[email protected] · 2025-05-05 · 07:15 UTC

#magicthegathering #mtg #Eliminate #ChrisCold

#magicthegathering #mtg #eliminate #chriscold

beSpacific @[email protected] · 2025-03-15 · 15:26 UTC

Trump signed #executiveorder to dismantle 7 additional federal agencies, including one that oversees #VoiceofAmerica, other govt-funded media outlets around the world. Directed heads of the agencies largely obscure entities that address issues like #labor mediation & #homelessness prevention, #eliminate all functions that are not statutorily #mandated. The leaders should also “reduce the performance of their statutory functions, associated personnel to minimum presence, function required by law.

#executiveorder #voiceofamerica #labor #homelessness #eliminate #mandated

Zzyzx/P @[email protected] · 2025-03-13 · 18:31 UTC

So the #aim is to have a #healthier population.
1. Appoint an #antivax #conspiracy #nutjob to oversee #health.
2. Reduce or #eliminate #pollution #safeguards.
3. Promote #animal #fat.
4. #strip and #gut #EPA.
#brilliant! The #stupidity of #GOP, #MAGA and this #government is astounding! #USPolitics

#aim #healthier #antivax #conspiracy #nutjob #health

Axadle @[email protected] · 2025-03-13 · 15:46 UTC

#Somalia #CalMiskaad #drone #eliminate #ISIS #leader #Mountains #Northeastern #raid #state #troops #Somalia Northeastern State Troops Eliminate ISIS Drone Leader in Calmiskaad Mountains Raid
https://tinyurl.com/2dog2zqp

#somalia #calmiskaad #drone #eliminate #isis #leader

Justin Buzzard @[email protected] · 2025-02-11 · 00:42 UTC

Countermeasure Ladder - It is important, whether for quality or safety, to put action in place that eliminates or at least controls the problem from reoccurring. The weaker the action, or lower on the ladder, the more likely it will reoccur. #countermeasureladder #eliminate #control #quality #safety

#countermeasureladder #eliminate #control #quality #safety