The Trump administration’s anti-labor policies are resulting in care being delayed or denied to our nation’s veterans, a new congressional report reveals.
Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) released a detailed report Jan. 22 on the harm and impacts of the administration’s workforce policies and budget cuts on veterans. The report, Breaking the Pact: Impacts of Trump, DOGE, and Doug Collins’ Ongoing Assault on Veterans, was released ahead of a scheduled oversight hearing this week where VA Secretary Doug Collins will testify.
“We are sounding the alarm today with a call to action. It is a call to action to veterans and the American public that the Trump administration is literally destroying the Veterans Administration,” Blumenthal said during a press call to announce the report.
The VA lost 40,000 employees during the first year of the Trump administration – 88% in health care. And even though some of those positions have been refilled, the new employees lack the same skills and experience as the employees who were either fired or quit due to the toxic environment created by the administration, Blumenthal said.
The staffing cuts have resulted in longer wait times for veterans seeking care – particularly for mental health services, where the average wait time to book a new appointment doubled from 17 days in May 2024 to 35 days currently. At one VA facility in California, the wait time has ballooned to 134 days after losing 7 out of 12 mental health providers.
It’s the first time in the VA’s history that there has been a net loss of employees from one year to the next, Blumenthal said.
“What we are seeing is not normal. It’s not normal attrition. It’s not a normal trend line. It is the result of a constant policy, beginning with DOGE and sustained by the Trump administration, to discourage and deter employees, skilled professionals in health care and other areas, from continuing their work for our nation’s heroes and that is unacceptable,” he said.
During the press call, AFGE National VA Council President M.J. Burke said the union is hearing alarm bells from across the department that the administration’s policies are affecting veterans’ care.
“By the end of 2026, most facilities will have lost 2 to 5 percent of their psychologists – hard-hit locations like Seattle, Buffalo, and Chillicothe are seeing double-digit attrition. Why? Because over the last year, VA leadership slashed jobs, stripped away flexible remote work, and forced staff into overcrowded spaces. These punishing policies haven’t just lowered morale – they end up compromising the quality of care we provide,” Burke said.
Click here to read the full report.
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