VA Considered Drastic Workforce Cuts, Including Eliminating Thousands of Field Positions, Before Settling on Smaller Reductions
Internal documents reveal that the Department of Veterans affairs (VA) explored significantly more aggressive workforce reductions than the nearly 30,000 jobs it plans too cut by the end of fiscal year 2025. In April, senior VA officials considered consolidating the 18 Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) down to 10, a move that would have involved merging as many as three VISNs into one. These preliminary plans, discussed by a “Reorganization Implementation Cell,” indicated that a 15% workforce cut from the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) Central Office and VISNs would necessitate eliminating 55,000 positions from the department’s “field” operations to meet overarching goals.
the potential impact of such extensive field cuts was a notable concern, with one senior VA official quoted in the documents expressing uncertainty about how it would avoid affecting veterans’ care. By June, the VA had engaged the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), paying over $726,000 for assistance with its reduction-in-force and reorganization plans. The VA cited its lack of experience and internal resources for such a large-scale restructuring as the reason for seeking OPM’s expertise.
These considerations for deeper cuts occurred prior to the VA’s announcement that it was on track to eliminate approximately 30,000 jobs by the end of fiscal year 2025, a figure that would remove the need for widespread reductions in force (RIFs). Other internal VA documents previously reported by Federal News Network indicated that senior department officials had been evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of more substantial workforce reductions up until recently.
This reporting is based on internal VA documents and an interagency agreement with OPM. The specific names of senior officials involved in these discussions were not disclosed in the provided text. The focus of these internal deliberations was on the scale of potential workforce reductions and their implications for veteran care.
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