The Department of Veterans announced on Thursday that over 1,000 employees will be let go in response to a recent directive from the Trump administration to reduce the federal workforce.
This decision is expected to result in saving over $98 million annually for the VA, which can then be redirected towards improving healthcare, benefits, and services for veterans.
According to the VA, this action is in line with their strategy to prioritize their primary objective of delivering top-quality care and benefits to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.
“To be perfectly clear: these moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors,” Collins said.
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters is seen on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, in Washington, D.C. (Matt McClain/ The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The dismissals are effective immediately according to the VA and employees have been notified.
Additional measures have been put in place to ensure VA services are not impacted and an assigned representative in each chain of command can request exemptions.
