A leaked internal memo from the Department of Veterans Affairs has revealed plans to cut more than 70,000 employees. The department is made up of more than 25% veterans.
It would amount to a 15% cut across the department.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, slammed the plan on Thursday morning.
He said the cuts would have detrimental effects on the country’s veterans.
“The VA is approaching a seismic disaster,” Blumenthal said. “Historic in proportions in terms of the effect on veterans employed in the United States government, but also veterans who benefit from its services, its care and disability benefits.”
The cuts are an attempt to bring the department back down to 2019 staffing levels, which were just under 400,000. The VA had expanded under the Biden administration to care for burn-pit veterans as part of the Pact Act.
The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (PACT Act) expanded VA care to veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxins.
That program, according to Blumenthal, would suffer massively from the cuts.
“What's proposed here are rollbacks that will deny PACT Act benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals, burn pits and other poisonous substances,” Blumenthal said.
VA Secretary Doug Collins posted a video on X after the story was broken by the Government Executive. He said the cuts won’t impact veterans’ health care or benefits.
“The money we're saving by eliminating non-mission critical and duplicative contracts is money we're going to redirect to veteran-facing health care, benefits and services, resulting in massive improvements in customer service and convenience,” Collins said.
“We regret anyone who loses their job, and it's extraordinarily difficult for me, especially as a VA leader and your secretary, to make these types of decisions,” he continued. “But the federal government does not exist to employ people. It exists to serve people at the VA.”
