{"id":2410267,"date":"2025-03-05T19:36:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T00:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-administration-to-fire-80000-employees-from-veterans-affairs-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-03-05T19:40:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T00:40:35","slug":"trump-administration-to-fire-80000-employees-from-veterans-affairs-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-administration-to-fire-80000-employees-from-veterans-affairs-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration to fire 80,000 employees from Veterans Affairs &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-administration-to-fire-80000-employees-from-veterans-affairs-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2410267&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The\u2062 Trump management\u200c is \u2063planning\u2063 to cut 80,000 employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by \u200csummer, according to a memo from\u200c VA \u200dchief of \u200dstaff Christopher Syrek. the\u2064 administration aims to downsize the federal\u2064 workforce in collaboration with the Department of\u200b Government \u2063Efficiency, emphasizing a \u200cpragmatic approach to the cuts.Recently,\u200b the VA reduced its workforce by 1,400\u200c after earlier\u2064 dismissals of 1,000 employees, as part of a strategy to \u2064save $83 million annually.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these \u200cpersonnel changes, VA Secretary Doug\u200b Collins reassured that they would not harm healthcare or\u200c benefits for veterans, insisting \u2064that the changes would\u200b ultimately enhance services. The memo indicates a return to 2019 staffing levels, \u200daiming to reduce the current 482,000 employees, which expanded under the Biden administration to\u2063 accommodate increased demand from the PACT Act.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers,\u2062 including Rep. Mark Takano, have expressed concerns that these\u200c cuts\u2062 could <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">severely impact veterans&#8217; access<\/a>\u200b to healthcare and benefits, \u2063labeling the move \u2064an &#8220;outright\u2063 betrayal&#8221;\u2063 of their needs. The full downsizing plan is expected \u200bto be submitted to the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget by April\u2063 14.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump administration plans to fire 80,000 employees from Veterans Affairs<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2022680\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/veterans-affairs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> chief of staff Christopher Syrek sent out a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-trump-lawyer-requests-probation-change-for-travel-due-to-election-investigations\/\" title=\"Former Trump lawyer requests probation change for travel due to election investigations\">memo outlining plans<\/a> to cut 80,000 employees by the summer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Syrek said the VA will work with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-government-efficiency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Department of Government Efficiency<\/a> to &ldquo;move out aggressively, while taking a pragmatic and disciplined approach&rdquo; in meeting the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Trump administration&rsquo;s <\/a>goals of downsizing the federal government.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3336852\/stephen-a-smith-says-trump-win-is-a-mandate-democratic-party-to-change\/\">Stephen A. Smith says Trump&#8217;s win is a &#8216;mandate&#8217; for Democratic party to change<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3336576\/karine-jean-pierre-downplays-trump-landslide-kamala-harris-not-mandate\/\">Karine Jean-Pierre downplays Trump&#8217;s seismic win: &#8216;He does not have a mandate&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/politics\/3335723\/tim-walz-open-running-president-2028\/\">Tim Walz open to running for president in 2028<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;VA liaisons to DOGE will be integrated into VA RIC operations ensuring positive and continuous communications with the administration through all phases of the operation,&rdquo; Syrek <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/veterans-affairs-cuts-doge-musk-trump-f587a6bc3db6a460e9c357592e165712\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">said<\/a> in the memo obtained by several news publications, including the <em>Associated Press<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In February, the department cut 1,400 probationary employees after dismissing 1,000 employees about 10 days earlier. Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins defended the cuts by saying they will save the department $83 million per year.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;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,&rdquo; Collins said in a statement. &ldquo;These moves will not hurt VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In fact, Veterans are going to notice a change for the better.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The March memo outlined plans to return to 2019 staffing levels; at the time, the department employed 399,000 workers. There are currently 482,000 employees, which includes 459,000 full time workers at the department.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Under the Biden administration, the department increased the department&rsquo;s size in an effort to accommodate the PACT Act, which increased the number of veterans eligible for benefits. In 2023, the Veterans Health Administration, part of the VA, hired 61,000 new employees.<\/p>\n<p>However, on April 14 of this year, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/acting-capitol-police-chief-says-protocols-were-not-followed-on-jan-6\/\" title=\"Acting Capitol Police Chief says protocols were not followed on Jan. 6\">department plans<\/a> to deliver its full plans of downsizing to the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers are raising concerns about how restructuring the VA will negatively affect its ability to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/google-expands-security-efforts-ahead-of-2022-elections\/\" title=\"Google Expands Security Efforts Ahead of 2022 Elections\">provide services<\/a> to veterans.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Veterans&rsquo; Affairs Committee, called the move by the Trump administration an &ldquo;outright betrayal of veterans.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3228342\/department-of-government-efficiency-what-to-know\/\"><strong>WHAT IS DOGE? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Gutting VA&rsquo;s staffing to pre-PACT Act levels will cripple the very system that millions of veterans rely on, denying them access to lifesaving healthcare, claims processing, and education benefits they&rsquo;ve earned,&rdquo; Takano said.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> reached out to Syrek and the VA for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2022680\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2022680\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump administration to cut 80,000 VA employees by summer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2542,"featured_media":2410268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Doug-Collins-VA.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5731,5045,4600,3634,38534],"class_list":["post-2410267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-employment","tag-government","tag-policies","tag-trump","tag-veterans-affairs"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Doug-Collins-VA.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2410267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2410267"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2410267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2410271,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2410267\/revisions\/2410271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2410268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2410267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2410267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2410267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}