Senator Richard Blumenthal, the Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, issued a statement in response to reports that the Trump Administration plans to cut up to 35,000 health care jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) this month. The cuts would include unfilled positions for doctors, nurses, and support staff.
“VA Secretary Collins’ continued cuts to VA’s workforce are incomprehensible and inexcusable. At a time where VA has already lost more than 30,000 employees, his plan to eliminate tens of thousands of unfilled positions, including doctors and nurses, is totally unacceptable. Unfilled does not mean unnecessary— and there are no excuses for failing to fill these mission critical jobs in the first place. Removing these jobs will stretch thin a staff already struggling to meet rising workloads— leading to longer wait times and reduced access to care for veterans. Secretary Collins must be held accountable and immediately provide Congress and veterans more information around these secret plans to shrink VA’s essential workforce amid the Republican’s ongoing efforts to slash Americans’ access to health care,” Blumenthal said.
According to recent data, over 30,000 employees have left the VA between January and September 2025 due to a hiring freeze imposed by President Trump and Secretary Collins. This reduction also stems from deferred resignations, early retirements, and increased staff departures attributed to new workforce policies introduced by the administration earlier this year.
If implemented, these job eliminations would bring staffing levels at the VA back down to those seen before the PACT Act was enacted. The PACT Act expanded eligibility for VA health care services, resulting in more than one million new veteran enrollments. Many veterans now rely more heavily on VA services because of illnesses or injuries related to toxic exposure.
