KEY POINTS
- Veterans Affairs No Longer Needs RIF, Thanks to Department-Wide Progress
- Cuts Layoff Plan to 30,000, Down From Original 80,000 Target
The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has scaled back its original layoff plan. Initially, the agency planned to terminate up to 80,000 employees by the end of the fiscal year, but now intends to cut only 30,000 positions, citing improved internal performance and staffing metrics.
Veterans Affairs Revises Workforce Reduction Strategy
In March, VA Secretary Doug Collins announced a plan to eliminate approximately 15% of the department's workforce through Reduction-in-Force (RIF), a restructuring process used to downsize government staff due to budget or organisational shifts.
At the time, the VA aimed to reduce its workforce to 2019 levels, which were below 400,000 employees. As of 1 January 2025, the department employed around 484,000 workers. Meeting the initial target would have required cutting between 72,000 and 80,000 positions.
However, Collins confirmed that the RIF will no longer be necessary, thanks to a department-wide assessment that showed improvements in both staffing and service delivery.
'Since March, we've been conducting a holistic review of the department centred on reducing bureaucracy and improving services to Veterans,' said Collins.
'A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn't mean we're done improving VA. Our review has resulted in a host of new ideas for better serving Veterans that we will continue to pursue.'
Not All 30,000 Reductions Are Layoffs
The VA clarified that not all of the 30,000 positions will be direct terminations. According to the department, around 12,000 roles will be eliminated through natural attrition, retirements, a federal hiring freeze, and voluntary deferred resignations.
The agency stated that the staff reductions will be implemented between July and 30 September 2025.
'VA has multiple safeguards in place to ensure these staff reductions do not impact Veteran care or benefits,' the department noted in an official memo issued on Monday 7 July 2025.
It added: 'All VA mission-critical positions are exempt from the DRP and VERA, and more than 350,000 positions are exempt from the federal hiring freeze.'
Trump Administration's Role And Backlash
The updated layoff strategy aligns with former President Donald Trump's plans to return federal staffing to pre-Biden administration levels. During Trump's term, the government implemented widespread hiring freezes, exempting key areas such as healthcare.
As part of this broader workforce reshaping, the Deferred Resignation Programme (DRP) allowed eligible federal workers to exit early while receiving pay until September 2025.
Despite the reduction in layoffs, critics argue that the VA is still undergoing severe downsizing. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic lawmaker, sharply criticised the revised plan.
'This announcement makes clear VA is bleeding employees across the board at an unsustainable rate because of the toxic work environment created by this administration and DOGE's slash-and-trash policies,' Blumenthal said.
He added: 'This is not natural attrition. It's forced losses that could compromise the care and benefits veterans deserve. Even at 30,000, this is tens of thousands more workers lost than when Donald Trump wasn't in office.'
