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 year, that’s roughly 67,000 fewer people to care for America’s veterans.

The VA’s defense? Spokesman Peter Kasperowicz told the Prospect these positions are “no longer necessary” because they’ve been empty for over a year.

Here’s exactly how they manufactured that justification.

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The Setup: How to Create “Unnecessary” Positions

Here’s what actually happened to those “vacant for over a year” positions:

Step 1: Impose hiring freezes to meet DOGE goals

Throughout 2025, VA medical facilities were ordered to slow-walk or suspend recruitments—including for what one high-level official told the Prospect were “mission-critical” and “high-demand clinical positions.”

Positions weren’t vacant because they weren’t needed. They were vacant because Collins wouldn’t let facilities fill them.

Step 2: Eliminate remote work

When the administration killed remote work options, qualified candidates—especially mental health professionals who could serve veterans anywhere—declined job offers.

Those positions? Counted as “vacant.”

Step 3: Make the VA a toxic workplace

Trump’s constant attacks on federal employees turned the VA into what recruiters call “a risky career choice.” Applications to work at the VA dropped 45%. New hires dropped 56%.

When fewer people apply, positions stay open longer. Which gets you to...

Step 4: Let the hiring process drag on for a year

The Prospect documented positions that went through the entire hiring process—interviews, background checks, offers extended—only to have candidates decline after the process stretched to 12 months.

During that entire year, the position was classified as “vacant.”

Step 5: Don’t offer the job to the next candidate

When the top candidate finally declined, did the VA offer the position to runner-up candidates or re-advertise?

No. They classified it as “vacant for over a year” and eliminated it entirely.

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The Numbers They’re Not Telling You

VA spokesman Kasperowicz claimed these 37,000 positions are “mostly COVID-era roles that are no longer necessary.”

Here’s what he didn’t mention:

Mental Health Positions Being Eliminated

From the American Prospect reporting:

• One major VA medical center is losing 60% of its unfilled positions —including 23 in mental health

• The San Francisco VA system is losing 60% of unfilled positions across its medical center, outpatient clinics in Santa Rosa, rural clinics in Ukiah and Eureka, and a VA nursing home

• Neuropsychologist positions are being cut—the specialists who diagnose traumatic brain injuries and dementia in veterans

Not exactly “COVID-era roles,” are they?

The Real Vacancy Problem

The VA Office of Inspector General reported in August 2025:

• All 139 VA medical facilities have severe staffing shortages

• 4,434 total severe shortages (a 50% increase from last year)

• 57% of facilities lack adequate psychologists (highest shortage of any clinical position)

• Net loss of nearly 80 psychologists this fiscal year

That OIG survey was done in March-April 2025—before the deferred resignation program and buyouts kicked in. Before Collins fired 1,400 probationary employees. Before this new round of 37,000 position eliminations.

The real numbers are worse.

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What Happens When You Actually Need Those “Unnecessary” Jobs

When you eliminate a neuropsychologist position, here’s what happens.

A VA neurologist explained to the Prospect: “I depend on neuropsychologists as the first-line provider for patients with cognitive issues. Their evaluations include various cognitive tests that help me determine what kind of cognitive disorder a patient has and what further tests the patient needs like an MRI or PET scan or blood work.”

Without neuropsychologists on staff:

• Veterans with traumatic brain injuries don’t get diagnosed

• Veterans with dementia don’t get proper treatment plans

• Neurologists can’t do their jobs effectively

• Wait times explode

Collins says veterans can just use Community Care—the VA’s private-sector network.

The Prospect called the 12 neuropsychologists listed as accepting VA patients in the San Francisco area. Here’s what they found:

• One number went to an airline lost-and-found

• Another was out of service

• Another was a psychiatry clinic for children and teens

• Several others were general psychiatry clinics (not neuropsychology)

• Of the only two actual neuropsychology providers, one had a 10-week wait, the other had a 6-8 month wait

This is the “solution” Collins is offering.

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The Perfect Storm: EHR Rollout Meets Staffing Collapse

While Collins eliminates tens of thousands of positions, the VA is expanding the rollout of Oracle’s new electronic health record system to 13 more facilities in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Alaska in 2026.

That system has already been linked to 4,601 cases of harm and was “a potentially causal factor” in six patient deaths, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Even a well-designed EHR requires massive staff resources to implement safely. The VA is hiring 400 people specifically to help with this expansion.

But they’re eliminating 67,000 positions overall.

Ross Koppel, University of Pennsylvania professor and health IT expert, warns this creates “a perfect patient safety storm.”

A physician at the Indiana VA told the Prospect: “I’m very worried that the combination of staffing shortages and the new EHR could harm a lot of patients as well as leave them so frustrated they will leave the VA for community care, which will drain more VA resources and can feed a vicious spiral where the VA exists only to pay for community care.”

That’s not a bug. That’s the feature.

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The Real Goal: Privatization

On December 5, 2025, VA Chief Operating Officer Gregory Goins held a virtual meeting with staff. The leaked audio reveals the plan:

“We’re going to be moving more toward a private-sector model where the annual business cycle plan is what ultimately dictates resources.”

Translation: The VA will become a pass-through entity that authorizes private care and writes checks. Not a healthcare system that actually treats veterans.

One high-level veterans service organization representative told the Prospect: “The only intention for this seems to be to dump enormous amounts of patients in the laps of non-VA providers.”

The mental health leader whose facility is losing 60% of positions said it plainly: “There will be a large increase in the facility’s budget for providing private care to veterans but deficits for funding things like in-house care, facility maintenance, and other critical functions. Essentially, they are funding us to do community care.”

Remember Collins’s confirmation hearing promise? “I’m gonna take care of the veterans. That means that we’re not gonna balance budgets on the back of veterans’ benefits.”

That promise lasted five minutes.

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Timeline: How We Got Here

January 2025: Doug Collins confirmed as VA Secretary, promises not to “balance budgets on the back of veterans’ benefits”

February 2025: Collins fires 2,400 probationary VA employees in two rounds (1,000 on Feb. 13, then 1,400 more on Feb. 24), claims it “will not negatively impact VA healthcare.” Among those fired: 26 Veterans Crisis Line staff—administrative staff and a supervisor deemed critical by a 2024 OIG report. They were rehired only after Congressional pressure

March 2025: VA floats plans to cut 80,000 positions. Collins imposes hiring freezes and slow-walking of “mission-critical” positions to meet DOGE goals

July 2025: After protests, VA announces 30,000 positions will be lost through attrition and early retirements by end of fiscal year (Sept. 30). Net loss of 7,500 employees in veteran-facing jobs including psychologists, nurses, and physicians

August 2025: VA OIG reports 50% increase in severe staffing shortages across all 139 VA medical facilities. Applications to work at VA drop 45%. New hires drop 56%

November 2025: Internal memo leaked to the Prospect reveals new caps on employee positions—up to 37,000 more positions to be eliminated

December 2025: VA begins eliminating positions, with local facilities given one month to decide which “vacant” positions to purge permanently

Total impact: ~67,000 positions (30,000 lost through Sept. 2025 + up to 37,000 more through position caps)

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Congress Could Stop This

When Congress ended the government shutdown in November, the legislation they passed prohibited agencies from using funds to “initiate, carry out, or otherwise notice a reduction in force.”

The Trump administration argues that eliminating vacant positions doesn’t count as a “reduction in force.”

Georgetown University law professor Eloise Pasachof explained to the Prospect that when Congress revisits this legislation (the continuing resolution expires January 30th), “it could expand this prohibition to clearly include a prohibition against cutting unfilled positions.”

Will they?

That depends on whether veterans and veterans organizations make enough noise.

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What This Means For You

If you’re currently using VA healthcare:

• Expect longer wait times for appointments, especially for mental health care and specialized services

• Document everything about your conditions and care needs now, while you still have access

• Get appointments scheduled as far out as you can

• Know your Community Care rights but understand the network is overwhelmed and inadequate

If you’re in the middle of a VA disability claim:

• Expect delays in C&P exams, DBQ completion, and decision letters

• The VBA lost positions too—claims processing will slow

• File everything now rather than waiting

• Get buddy statements and private medical opinions if you can afford them

If you’re about to separate from service:

• Enroll in VA healthcare immediately upon separation

• File all claims before you separate if possible

• Don’t count on timely access to care or benefits decisions

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The Bottom Line

They’re not eliminating “unnecessary” positions. They’re eliminating positions they deliberately refused to fill, then using those manufactured vacancies as justification.

It’s a con job.

And veterans are going to pay the price in longer wait times, reduced access to care, and a healthcare system that’s being systematically transformed into a billing department for private providers.

Collins promised he wouldn’t balance budgets on the backs of veterans.

He lied.

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Sources

American Prospect Investigation:

• Another Mass Staffing Purge at the VA (December 18, 2025) by Suzanne Gordon and Russell Lemle

VA Office of Inspector General:

• Report on Severe Healthcare Staffing Shortages (August 2025)

Congressional Response:

• Senator Blumenthal Statement on VA Mass Terminations (February 2025)

• Senator Gillibrand Letter on Mental Health Care Cuts (March 27, 2025)

• Senator Warner Response to OIG Report (August 2025)

Electronic Health Record Issues:

• Government Accountability Office Report on Oracle/Cerner EHR (December 2025)

• Spokane Spokesman-Review: EHR Linked to Patient Deaths (December 2025)

Collins Confirmation:

• NPR: Doug Collins Confirmation Hearing (January 22, 2025)

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Tbird runs HadIt.com, one of the oldest online veteran-to-veteran support communities (established 1997), and writes investigative journalism on veteran policy at Tbird’s Quiet Fight.