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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)

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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.

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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.

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