VA Secretary Collins Cuts 1,400 Jobs for Budget Savings

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on Monday it has dismissed over 1,400 probationary workers in an effort to increase efficiency and save costs. The cuts come just two weeks after a previous reduction of more than 1,000 employees, and will result in annual savings of over $83 million.

VA Secretary Doug Collins stated the dismissals include workers in “non-mission critical positions,” primarily unionized employees in competitive and excepted service roles. The VA noted that this decision is part of a broader strategy to allocate resources more effectively toward health care and services for veterans.

“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 prepared statement.

The cuts affect bargaining-unit probationary employees who have served less than a year in competitive service or less than two years in excepted service appointments. As a safeguard, the VA indicated that a senior leader in the dismissed employee’s chain of command can request an exemption to the termination.

Collins emphasized that these personnel changes will not harm the quality of services provided to veterans. “In the coming weeks and months, the VA will be announcing plans to redirect these resources back into fulfilling our core mission: providing the best possible care and benefits to veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors,” he said.

However, some former employees voiced concerns about the impact of the layoffs on service delivery. Jonathan Kamens, who was among those let go, remarked, “All of the people I served with were overworked. The staff the VA had before the firings was not able to meet existing demands for services and care.”

These recent layoffs have drawn criticism from lawmakers, including Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who cautioned that the reductions could exacerbate existing personnel shortages at the VA. “These actions are destroying the trust veterans have in VA and will do long-term damage to VA’s ability to recruit and retain talented doctors, nurses, and others wanting to pursue a career serving veterans,” Blumenthal said.

Despite the criticism, Collins maintains that the cuts are necessary for the agency to redirect funds toward essential services. The VA currently employs nearly 475,000 staff members and serves over 8 million veterans nationwide.

This recent wave of staff reductions at the VA is part of larger government efforts under the Trump administration aimed at downsizing the federal workforce, which exceeds 2 million employees.