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In late November, a mental health leader at a major VA medical center learned about a directive issued to the 18 Veterans Health Administration regional offices. Leaders in Washington were imposing lower caps on employee positions nationwide. Directors of local VA medical centers and clinics had a month to decide which vacant positions to eliminate, and which job offers to rescind. None of these identified positions would be filled because they would be swept from organizational charts entirely. At his facility, 60 percent of the unfilled positions would be lost, including 23 in mental health.
“The past nine months have been very challenging,” the mental health leader told the Prospect. “But this is really going to impact patient care.” He also worried about the effect of cuts on the VA’s critical teaching mission. “The VA trains 50 percent of psychologists in the country,” he said. “Now, we may not have enough staff to supervise trainees.” In the midst of a national mental health professional shortage, reducing VA training capacity ultimately impacts access to mental health care for both veterans and nonveterans alike.
In a follow-up virtual meeting conducted by the VA’s new interim chief operating officer (COO), Gregory Goins, the intention of this policy was made clear. Not only is the Trump administration privatizing the VA by sending more veterans to non-VA providers, but it’s moving VA policies and practices to what was called a “private-sector model,” which will transform the system into just another profit-driven business entity.
In response to our inquiry, VA spokesman Peter Kasperowicz claimed that positions being eliminated are no longer necessary. “Care won’t be affected because no VA employees are being removed. VA is simply eliminating about 25,000 open and unfilled positions—mostly COVID-era roles that are no longer necessary. All of these positions are unfilled, and most have not been filled for more than a year, underscoring how they are no longer needed.”
Missing from Kasperowicz’s statement is an acknowledgment that, to meet DOGE goals in 2025, medical facilities were slow-walking or suspending recruitments—including, as one high-level official told the Prospect, for “mission-critical” or “high-demand clinical positions” (some of which became vacant due to the elimination of remote work). To compensate for fewer employees, remaining staff were saddled with excessive workloads.
While the new initiative represents another Trumpian exercise in shock and awe, there is reason to believe it can be stopped. |
