VA says its job cuts will limit doctor, nurse resignations [View all]
Source: NPR
May 10, 2025 12:01 AM ET
Data that employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs have shared with NPR shows that 11,273 agency employees nationwide have applied for deferred resignation, which the Trump administration is offering as part of its DOGE initiative to cut the VA's workforce by 15%.
The top positions across all networks that are requesting deferred resignation are nurses (about 1,300), medical support assistants (about 800) and social workers (about 300). Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins has been adamant that staff cuts will not affect veterans' health care. In a contentious Senate hearing Tuesday, he accused Democrats of fearmongering.
"I will not let you sit here and scare my veterans and scare my employees, because no one has discussed firing doctors or firing nurses," Collins replied to a question from Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. "We've always said that we're going to keep frontline health care."
Blumenthal responded that the secretary has failed to explain how he would reach his stated goal of returning the VA to its 2019 size without affecting care. "It simply cannot be done. And you may give us a lot of verbiage here, but you're not giving us facts. And facts are essential to accountability," said Blumenthal.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/10/nx-s1-5391962/va-job-cuts-limit-doctor-nurse-resignations-veterans
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