The VA Job Cuts: Exposing the Con
How they’re eliminating up to 67,000 positions by pretending jobs they refused to fill were never needed
The Gist:
VA Secretary Doug Collins is eliminating up to 67,000 positions by claiming jobs his own hiring freezes kept vacant were “never needed.” They manufactured the vacancies through DOGE mandates, then used those empty positions as proof they weren’t necessary. It’s a con job—and veterans will pay the price in longer wait times, delayed claims, and a healthcare system being gutted from the inside.
VA Secretary Doug Collins has a neat trick. First, he stops the VA from hiring people. Then, after positions sit empty for months, he points to those empty positions and says, “See? We don’t need them.”
It’s like slashing your car’s tires, then claiming you don’t need a car because it doesn’t run.
On December 18, 2025, The American Prospect broke the story of Collins’s latest move: up to 37,000 more VA positions being eliminated. Combined with the 30,000 already lost this…
