As part of a wave of federal government layoffs that started this week, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has now reportedly fired over 1,000 new hires, raising worries that the terminations may affect compensation for former service members.
“Among those let go are probationary, non-mission-critical employees who have all worked for less than two years,” a VA statement issued late Thursday said.
According to the VA, the layoffs will result in annual savings of over $98 million, which will be reinvested in health care, benefits, and services for VA beneficiaries.
As part of President Trump’s and his administration’s attempt to reduce the 2.4 million civil servants, the VA has been in disarray, and some politicians have warned that the layoffs will have a terrible effect on the 9 million veterans for whom the organization provides lifetime care and benefits.
VA researchers who focus on mental health, cancer therapies, alcohol and opioid addiction, prostheses, and burn pit exposure have been impacted by the cutbacks, according to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).
According to a report released in August by the VA’s inspector general, VA hospitals have been facing severe staffing shortages for at least five years, particularly among doctors, nurses, and psychologists.
Additionally, he emphasized that the terminations would not have an adverse effect on VA beneficiaries, benefits, or health care. However, some lawmakers and veterans organizations are concerned that the firing spree would eventually hurt veterans.
Representative Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) joined veterans, labor unions that represent VA employees, and veterans’ advocates outside VA headquarters Thursday to voice their opposition to what they described as an attack on the VA workforce by Trump and Musk, who leads a task force aimed at reducing government spending.
[READ MORE: Border Crossings Now Down 90 Percent Under New Trump Policies]
