DAV is cautiously optimistic that the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) plans to reduce its workforce by nearly 30,000 employees before the end of the current fiscal year can be accomplished without impacting the timely delivery of high-quality health care and benefits. Although this will be a major staffing reduction, it is markedly lower than VA’s previously stated goal of eliminating up to 80,000 positions.

DAV shares VA Secretary Collins’ focus on improving veterans benefits and health care services and we stand ready to engage with him, Congress, and other stakeholders to identify and eliminate waste and redundancy in the system. With the demand for care continuing to rise, driven by an aging veterans’ population, expanded eligibility, and increasingly complex care needs, it is critical that we work together, in a transparent and collaborative manner, to make the VA as efficient and effective as possible.

Although details about the department’s reorganization plans have not yet been released, VA has stated that the reductions will be achieved through attrition, resignations, retirements, and hiring freezes. We look forward to learning more about VA’s implementation strategies and collaborating with Secretary Collins and other VA leaders to ensure that veterans benefits, services and programs are not negatively impacted by these changes.

DAV’s nearly 1 million members, all of whom are wartime service-disabled veterans, rely heavily on VA health care and benefits. As VA moves forward with this and any future reorganization plans, we must remain dedicated to fully and faithfully keeping the promises made to the men and women who served, as well as their families, caregivers, and survivors.