Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas A. Collins said in a video posted on social media that the cuts would not reduce health care or benefits for veterans and their beneficiaries.
“We’ll be making major changes, so get used to it now,” he said.
The sprawling department, which provides medical care for millions of veterans and their families, is the latest target in Trump’s push for sweeping cuts across the federal workforce, which has about 2.3 million civilian employees. In February, VA announced layoffs affecting 2,400 workers and made plans to cut hundreds of government contracts, which it rolled back less than a day later.
“President Trump refuses to accept the VA bureaucracy and bloat that has hindered Veterans’ ability to receive timely and quality care,” a White House spokeswoman, Anna Kelly, said in a statement. “By making the VA workforce more efficient, President Trump and Secretary Collins will ensure greater efficiency and transparency for our nation’s heroes while preserving the benefits they earned.”
VA is among the largest employers of federal workers, with most employed operating its network of hospitals around the country, according to Pew Research Center. Groups representing veterans and federal employees quickly decried the planned cuts Wednesday, saying they will inhibit the department’s services for veterans and their families. VA did not respond to a request for comment.
“The VA has been severely understaffed for many years, resulting in longer wait times for veterans in need,” Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a statement. “The DOGE plunder of career VA employees, adding to the illegal mass firings of thousands of probationary employees, can only make matters worse.”
Kelley, whose union is the country’s largest for federal workers and represents many VA employees, also said the cuts would destroy the department’s promise to expand health care for veterans exposed to toxic substances, an effort known as the Pact Act that was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022.
VoteVets, a liberal veterans’ group, also warned that the cuts of nonessential workers could lead to longer wait times for medical appointments and slower processing and payouts of benefits, particularly disability compensation.
“Donald Trump is eliminating the very people who best understand the sacrifices and needs of those of us who have served our nation — their fellow veterans,” the group said in a statement.
Syrek’s memo indicated that VA will publish its reorganization plan this summer, with the cuts happening before Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.
“We regret anyone who loses their job,” Collins said. “It’s extraordinarily difficult for me, especially as a VA leader and your secretary, to make these types of decisions.”
“But the federal government doesn’t exist to employ people,” he continued. “It exists to serve people.”
