Department of Veterans Affairs reverses course on mass layoffs after pushback

Veterans make up about 30% of the federal civilian 
workforce. (Gallup photo)

Faced with bipartisan pushback and anger from military veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs is backtracking on its plan to shed more than 80,000 employees. Eric Katz of Government Executive reports, "VA previously told top-level staff it would utilize widespread reductions in force to cut its workforce back to the level it employed in fiscal 2019, leading to a reduction of more than 80,000 employees."

Early 2025 cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency and the VA have already taken a disproportionate toll on veterans' post-service employment, because they make up roughly 30% of the U.S. federal civilian workforce. "The VA has already shed 17,000 employees since January, and plans to cut another 12,000 through additional attrition and separation incentives," Katz explains. "While VA said it would not implement a 'large-scale' or 'department-wide' Reduction in Force, it did not rule out using more targeted layoffs."

Reducing VA staff is framed as a reorganization effort to improve the VA, rather than a way to cut jobs. VA Secretary Doug Collins told Katz, "Since March, we’ve been conducting a holistic review of the department centered on reducing bureaucracy and improving services to veterans. . . . A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn’t mean we’re done improving VA."

The VA has until Monday to "keep its plans under wraps, requiring all of those working on it to take the unusual step of signing a non-disclosure agreement," Katz reports. 

While Collins and some lawmakers said the reversal of mass layoffs was always a possibility, the American Federation of Government Employees council, which represents employees in VA’s central office, "suggested that the change was a direct result of outcry and pushback," Katz adds. "The group said the change in plans was not 'a coincidence, it was a response.' The union added significant damage has been done to the VA workforce."