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VA loses 7,500 employees in veteran-facing roles as part of workforce cuts

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2 months ago

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The Department of Veterans Affairs is reining in its use of pay incentives to recruit and retain employees in veteran-facing health care jobs.

But the VA, as part of its plan to cut nearly 30,000 positions from its workforce by the end of this fiscal year, is seeing lower staffing levels for mission-critical positions.

The latest VA data shows that about 7,500 employees in veteran-facing jobs have left the department so far this fiscal year.

That includes a net loss of 1,720 registered nurses, nearly 1,150 medical support assistants, more than 600 physicians, nearly 200 police officers, nearly 80 psychologists and nearly 1,100 veteran claim examiners.

The VA announced this month that it plans to cut 30,000 positions through attrition, and is no longer planning on a “department-wide” reduction in force to cut more than 80,000 positions.

VA Secretary Doug Collins says the staffing cuts will not impact veteran care or benefits.

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), chairwoman of the House VA Committee’s oversight subcommittee, said in a hearing Tuesday that “there’s just no possible way” the VA could lose this many employees in critical roles without it having an impact on veteran-facing services.

“How can Secretary Collins look at us and at veterans with a straight face and say that veterans care has not been affected by staffing changes, when he’s lost at least 7,500 veteran-facing employees?” Ramirez said.

The VA exempted many veteran-facing health care jobs from the deferred resignation and early retirement offers. But Sheila Elliot, a pharmacist of the Hampton, Virginia VA Medical Center and president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2328, said the VA is still losing mission-critical employees.

“When you rely on random reductions, there can be danger there you don’t know which critical and which noncritical position is going to be reduced,” Elliot said.

Subcommittee Chairwoman Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) said she’s pleased the VA isn’t pursuing a large-scale reduction of force, and has been reassured by VA leadership that “any early retirements will come from redundant positions and non-essential personnel.”

The VA, so far this fiscal year, has sharply rolled back its use of recruitment, retention and relocation (3R) incentives.

The department awarded 14,585 critical skills incentives in fiscal 2024, but has only granted a single CSI so far this fiscal year.

The department issued 19,484 retention incentives last year, but approved 7,485 this year — a more than 60% decrease.

The VA awarded more than 6,000 recruitment incentives last year, but issued just over 1,000 this fiscal year — more than an 80% decrease.

The VA is also bringing fewer employees on board. The latest VA data shows the department is seeing a 45% decrease in job applications submitted between FY 2025 and 2024, and a 56% reduction in new employees starting jobs.

VA Chief Human Capital Officer Tracey Therit told lawmakers that the department can fill most vacant direct-care positions without using these incentives.

“There has to be a justification for using a recruitment or a retention incentive. In many situations… we are able to post these job announcements, get qualified candidates and bring them on without using an incentive,” Therit said.

More than 350,000 VA positions are exempt from a government-wide hiring freeze that President Donald Trump recently extended to Oct. 15. Therit said the VA is hiring several thousand VA employees each two-week pay period.

VA’s inspector general office, in a report last year, found the department improperly awarded $10.8 million in critical skills incentives (CSIs) to more than 180 executives in September 2023.

VA says more than 90% of those critical skills incentives went to eligible recipients — including police officers, housekeepers and food service workers. The department has recouped about 90% of the improperly awarded bonuses.

The watchdog office, however, continues to flag improperly awarded incentives.

A VA inspector general office report last month found that the Veterans Health Administration awarded $30,000 in relocation incentives to a VHA employee who never relocated.

Kiggans said the latest IG’s report shows that these incentives have been “paid out with very little oversight.”

“For far too long, they have been carelessly handled,” Kiggans said.

Shawn Steel, director of the human capital and operations division at the VA IG’s office, said the department “continues to experience staffing shortages for positions fundamental to the safe and effective delivery of care to veterans.”

Therit told lawmakers that while retention incentives typically last for about a year, VA employees can continue to receive recruitment and relocation incentives for up to four years — in order for the department to come up with contingency plans.

“We’re looking at somebody who’s likely to leave federal service and has a unique skill that we can’t afford to walk out the door, and we need a short period of time to put that succession plan in place, to either develop someone with those skills to step in when they depart, or to be able to recruit somebody before they leave,” Therit said.

Therit said these incentives can help the VA make more competitive job offers to candidates in certain specialty areas. Pay caps for health care professionals at VA, she added, “have not kept pace with rising salaries for health care professionals and specialists.”

“While the 3R incentive program is an important tool for the department in attracting and retaining talent, it is not enough for the VA to remain competitive with industry,” she said.

Kiggans added that “these bonuses, when used correctly, enable the VA to pay attractive salaries to valuable clinical staff and other VA employees who serve our veterans.”

“These incentive payments should go to staff dedicated to providing world-class care for our veterans. When the VA cannot retain its good employees or recruit talented staff, patient care is the first to suffer.”

Elliot said incentives are needed to staff up the North Battlefield Outpatient Clinic in Chesapeake, Virginia, that opened in April.

Elliot said the facility opened with about 27% of its staffing goal this spring, and is struggling to compete with the private sector for health care candidates.

“We urge the VA to use these bonuses and other tools to increase capacity at the clinic,”  she said.

The clinic opened in April with 150 staff and core services, including primary care, mental health and pharmacy. This month, the clinic added dental and additional mental health services. By January 2026, the facility is scheduled to be fully operational with radiology, optometry, telehealth and other services.

Elliot said a VA psychologist at the North Battlefield Outpatient Clinic left after receiving a better offer in the private sector.

“With no relocation bonus offered, that psychologist was able to get a relocation bonus from someplace else, and that’s where that psychologist is going,” Elliot said.

The post VA loses 7,500 employees in veteran-facing roles as part of workforce cuts first appeared on Federal News Network.

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Politics

President Trump Taps Dr. Ben Carson for New Role — A HUGE Win for America First Agenda

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20 minutes ago

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September 25, 2025

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Dr. Ben Carson is the newest member of the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, was sworn in as the national adviser for nutrition, health, and housing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins shared that Carson’s role will be to oversee Trump’s new Big Beautiful Bill law, which aims to ensure Americans’ quality of life, from nutrition to stable housing.

After being sworn in, Carson shared, “Today, too many Americans are suffering from the effects of poor nutrition. Through common-sense policymaking, we have an opportunity to give our most vulnerable families the tools they need to flourish.”

Table of Contents

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Per USDA:

Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced that Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., was sworn in as the National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“There is no one more qualified than Dr. Carson to advise on policies that improve Americans’ everyday quality of life, from nutrition to healthcare quality to ensuring families have access to safe and stable housing,” said Secretary Rollins.

“With six in ten Americans living with at least one chronic disease, and rural communities facing unique challenges with respect to adequate housing, Dr. Carson’s insight and experience is critical. Dr. Carson will be crucial to implementing the rural health investment provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill and advise on America First polices related to nutrition, health, and housing.

“As the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first Trump Administration, Dr. Carson worked to expand opportunity and strengthen communities, and we are honored to welcome him to the second Trump Administration to help lead our efforts here at USDA to Make America Healthy Again and ensure rural America continues to prosper.”

“Today, too many Americans are suffering from the effects of poor nutrition. Through common-sense policymaking, we have an opportunity to give our most vulnerable families the tools they need to flourish,” said Dr. Ben Carson. “I am honored to work with Secretary Rollins on these important initiatives to help fulfill President Trump’s vision for a healthier, stronger America.”

On Sunday, Dr. Carson was one of the many speakers at the memorial service of the late TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk.

During the memorial service, Carson highlighted that Kirk was shot at 12:24 p.m. and then continued to share the Bible verse John 12:24, which reads, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

WATCH:

The post President Trump Taps Dr. Ben Carson for New Role — A HUGE Win for America First Agenda appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Politics

LEAKED MEMO: Deep State Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia Claim There Isn’t Enough Evidence to Convict Comey Amid Reports of Imminent Indictment

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26 minutes ago

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September 25, 2025

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On Wednesday evening, disgruntled officials in the Eastern District of Virginia leaked contents of a memo explaining why charges should not be brought against James Comey.

As reported earlier, former FBI Director James Comey is expected to be indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia in the next few days.

Comey will reportedly be charged for lying to Congress in a 2020 testimony about whether he authorized leaks to the media.

Officials in the Eastern District of Virginia are still fighting to stop Comey from being charged after Trump fired US Attorney Erik Siebert.

President Trump last week fired Erik Siebert as the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia because he refused to bring charges against Letitia James, Comey, Schiff and others.

On Saturday evening, President Trump announced that he had appointed Lindsey Halligan – his personal attorney who defended him against the Mar-a-Lago raid – as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Now, with just days to go before the statute of limitations runs out to charge Comey for lying during a September 30, 2020 testimony, Lindsey Halligan is reportedly gearing up to indict Comey.

Prosecutors reportedly gave newly sworn-in Halligan a memo defending James Comey and explaining why charges should not brought against the fired FBI Director.

Per MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian:

Two sources familiar with the matter tell me prosecutors in the EDVA US attorney‘s office presented newly sworn US attorney Lindsey Halligan with a memo explaining why charges should not be brought against James Comey, because there isn’t enough evidence to establish probable cause a crime was committed, let alone enough to convince a jury to convict him.

Justice Department guidelines say a case should not be brought unless prosecutors believe it’s more likely than not that they can win a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.

The post LEAKED MEMO: Deep State Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia Claim There Isn’t Enough Evidence to Convict Comey Amid Reports of Imminent Indictment appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Nearly 8 in 10 Voters Say the United States is in Political Crisis After the Assassination of Charlie Kirk

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38 minutes ago

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September 25, 2025

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Nearly eight in ten voters believe that the United States is in a political crisis in the wake of the assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk.

According to a Quinnipiac University national poll of registered voters released on Wednesday, a massive 93 percent of Democrats, 84 percent of independents, and 60 percent of Republicans said the nation is in a political crisis.

“The Kirk assassination lays bare raw, bipartisan concerns about where the country is headed,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said of the poll results.

Quinnipiac reports:

Seventy-one percent of voters think politically motivated violence in the United States today is a very serious problem, 22 percent think it is a somewhat serious problem, 3 percent think it is a not so serious problem, and 1 percent think it is not a problem at all.

This is a jump from Quinnipiac University’s June 26 poll when 54 percent thought politically motivated violence in the United States today was a very serious problem, 37 percent thought it was a somewhat serious problem, 6 percent thought it was a not so serious problem, and 2 percent thought it was not a problem at all.

Nearly 6 in 10 voters (58 percent) think it will not be possible to lower the temperature on political rhetoric and speech in the United States, while 34 percent think it will be possible.

Over half, 54 percent, of voters believe the US will see increased political violence over the next few years. Another 27 percent said they think it will stay “about the same,” while just 14 percent believe it will ease.

A 53 percent majority also said they are “pessimistic about freedom of speech being protected in the United States.”

Surprisingly, a 53 percent majority also believes the current system of democracy is not working.

“From a perceived assault on freedom of speech to the fragility of the democracy, a shudder of concern and pessimism rattles a broad swath of the electorate. Nearly 80 percent of registered voters feel they are witnessing a political crisis, seven in ten say political violence is a very serious problem, and a majority say this discord won’t go away anytime soon,” Malloy added.

The vast majority, 82 percent, said the way that people discuss politics is contributing to the violence.

“When asked if political discourse is contributing to violence, a rare meeting of the minds…Republicans, Democrats, and independents in equal numbers say yes, it is,” Malloy said.

The survey was conducted from September 18 to 21 among 1,276 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points.

The post Nearly 8 in 10 Voters Say the United States is in Political Crisis After the Assassination of Charlie Kirk appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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