Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins told lawmakers Tuesday that the goal is to reduce VA’s workforce by 15 percent - but that number is a movable target.
“It could be less, it could be more,” Collins told the Senate Veterans Committee during his first appearance before them since becoming VA secretary on Feb. 5. “It is a goal that you have to look at. You have to start somewhere,” he said.
The proposed staff reductions at VA are in response to President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce. An internal VA memo shows the department plans to cut 83,000 jobs, returning it to 2019 staffing levels.
"Our goal is to increase productivity, eliminate waste, bureaucracy, increase efficiency and improve health care and benefits for veterans," said Collins.
VA has increased its staffing levels over the past few years in response to the PACT and MISSION Acts.
“The department’s history shows that adding more employees to the system doesn’t automatically equal better results,” Collins noted.
The VA has about 424,000 employees. In February, it fired about 2,400 probationary staffers. About 1,400 of them have been rehired due to an order by a federal court judge.
Collins did not go into detail about what positions could be eliminated due to the cuts, but pledged to maintain VA’s mission-essential jobs, like doctors, nurses, and claims processors, “while phasing out nonessential roles, like interior designers and other things, DEI. This is savings we can achieve that will be redirected to veteran healthcare and benefits.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said that when most people have a stated goal, they would like to reach it.
“If you don’t want to reach 80,000, revise your goal and tell us what you want to do,” she said.
SVAC Chairman Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) agreed that staffing cuts for the sake of staffing cuts should not be the goal.
“It ought not to be a set number you’re trying to reach,” he said. “It ought to be about right-sizing the department."
Collins said that no public announcement about what positions would be eliminated due to the cuts would be made until the plan is finalized.
“It would not be right for us to do that in public. It would not be right for us to just come back and say, ‘Here’s everything that we’ve got,’ and then have everybody scared. Because in the end, it may not be the final decision,” he said.
Other Democrats on the committee argued that reducing staff would negatively affect veterans seeking care and services from the VA.
"You cannot slash and trash the VA without eliminating essential positions which provide access and availability of health care," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the committee's ranking member. "You may give us a lot of verbiage here, but you're not giving us facts. And facts are essential to accountability."
Collins said VA is also working to expand community care access at non-VA medical facilities. He also called on Congress to increase the pay of VA doctors.
Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget, released May 2, calls for a four percent increase in the VA budget.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.