The Department of Veterans Affairs axed another 1,400 workers this week with medical support staff dismissed with little to no warning or consultation with their supervisors at top VA care facilities.
The debate over which employees are considered “non-mission critical” continues after the total number of dismissals in the department has now grown to about 2,400 under the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce following previous cuts on Feb. 13.
Workers who were laid off include veterans who served their country in wartime and said their supervisors were blindsided by their dismissal from various medical facilities where they took pride in serving other former warfighters.
“I don’t see how there will be no impact to care for veterans, pulling people away from the support roles, pulling people away from the supply and from the facilities maintenance and from emergency management, where I work, is all going to have an impact upon the facility,” said Adam Mulvey, 47, who worked at a federal healthcare center in Illinois. “The waits may be longer, the time to get medicine or the time to get prosthetics fixed may take longer, so it’s definitely going to hinder care.”
More than 3.3% of the agency’s probationary employees were union members considered to have “non-mission critical” positions, according to a news release from the VA. The agency has roughly 40,000 probationary employees, most of whom are exempt from being fired.
VA Secretary Doug Collins said the dismissals were “extraordinarily difficult” but explained that the savings of $83 million a year would go toward serving the veterans.
“These moves will not hurt VA healthcare, benefits, or beneficiaries. In fact, veterans are going to notice a change for the better,” he said in a statement.
Still, members of Congress are not convinced that the layoffs were warranted with bipartisan lawmakers demanding clarity on the extent of the cuts and their impact on services.
“If there are mission critical positions that just got swept out or thrown out with the bathwater, I want to know about that, that’s what we need to fix and stop this sort of political gamesmanship,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told the Washington Examiner.
“Our No. 1 category for casework is veterans casework,” Tillis explained. “So, that’s why I’m very systematic about trying to figure out what we are going to do.”
In some instances, the VA is attempting to reinstate some of the probationary employees it fired on Monday. Several social services assistants at the Veterans Crisis Line told the Washington Examiner they were contacted by supervisors, alerting them that their terminations had been overturned. A similar situation played out last week when the agency scrambled to rehire other support staff at the crisis line.
‘There’s nothing in a hospital that’s not essential’: terminated VA workers speak out
A team of supply technicians at the Roseburg VA Medical Center in Oregon, the majority of purchasing agents for three major VA hospitals in NYC, and an emergency management specialist at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in Chicago spoke to the Washington Examiner after being caught up in the latest wave of terminations.
Joseph Mucklow, a supply technician at the Roseburg VA Medical facility received notice he had been terminated on Monday night, according to a copy of the paperwork provided to the Washington Examiner. He said nearly his entire team was wiped out on Monday due to the layoffs, leaving the hospital with a skeleton crew to stock medical supplies at clinics and nursing stations.
“They’re probably going to have to pull one or two people from the warehouse to help out. And if they do that, then the warehouse is slower at breaking down the deliveries, slower at getting stuff to the hospital,” Mucklow said, speaking to the Washington Examiner.
Mucklow, a Navy veteran, said his job was physically demanding, showing the Washington Examiner his Apple health data, in which he walked over 10,000 steps daily delivering supplies to different units of the hospital.
“There’s some times where I deliver 40 IV sets to, like, one nursing station, and then I go back there the next day and it’s completely empty. You can’t skip days,” he explained. “If we don’t get our jobs back by this time next week … the nurses are not going to be able to do their job or they’re going to have walk to the other side of the hospital to get a syringe or an IV kit or a catheter or a blood bag,” he explained.
The 38-year-old said he’s uncertain of what is next following his termination on Monday.
“I spent thousands of dollars to come to this town and be away from my wife for this job because I believe in civil service,” he explained. “I have a degree in international business and I took this job that does not even require a degree so I could get my foot in the door at the VA and work myself up.”
Several purchasing agents who serve VA hospitals in the New York City area tell the Washington Examiner they believe those hospitals could see a shortage of medical supplies in the near future after the majority of the team was let go on Monday.
“Three of four of us have been fired; we do the purchasing for three hospitals for necessary supplies, we buy in bulk and negotiate discounts on the purchases,” said J, who only wanted to be identified by his first initial for fear of retaliation.
“We now have one-fourth of the manpower and buying power. We are a vital artery for all three hospitals making sure that supply needs are met, and now that vital artery has a blockage,” he said, mentioning he’s a disabled Marine veteran.
“We are mission critical. Without us, three hospitals are going to get one portion of the supplies that they used to get,” he added.
Mulvey served as an Emergency Management Specialist at the Captain James A Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, a facility that serves as a VA hospital. He was responsible for conducting drills and exercises on active shooter scenarios, mass casualty situations, abducted children, hazmat spills and more.
“My role in that was looking at all of our plans for how we deal with triaging multiple patients, how we shift patients to other facilities, how we coordinate with the local healthcare system within the hospital system, and make sure that our emergency department has a good process and plan for a sudden uptick in the number of casualties,” Mulvey said in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Mulvey, a disabled veteran who was active duty in the Army for 20 years with multiple tours in Iraq and a tour in Afghanistan, said he was almost to the end of his probationary period but then received a termination letter on Feb. 13, which he provided to the Washington Examiner.
“There’s still someone there to shoulder the burden, but it’s a lot of work for one person, which is why they brought me on about a year ago,” Mulvey said.
In the news release from the VA on Monday announcing the cuts, the agency said “the first Senior Executive Service (SES) or SES-equivalent leader in a dismissed employee’s chain of command can request that the employee be exempted from removal.” However, accounts from terminated personnel and management at VA hospitals are telling a different story.
“The leaders are learning about the terminations after the letters are sent to the fired staff,” said a senior manager at a VA hospital, granted permission to speak on the condition of anonymity in an effort to reflect candidly on the situation. “There has been a process to provide a very limited explanation to justify rescinding each individual employee’s termination to VA senior leadership, but that didn’t exist for the first round and it’s not clear anyone is actually listening to them.”
In Mulvey’s case, he said his management didn’t have an option to weigh in on his dismissal, even though his termination paperwork claimed “based on [his] performance,” he had not “demonstrated that [his] further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest,” despite receiving a performance review in October 2024 stating he is considered “fully successful or better.”
“My supervisor didn’t have a chance to weigh in, everybody up to the hospital director didn’t have a chance to weigh in,” Mulvey said.
Mulvey said he knows of at least 14 people within the Captain James A Lovell Federal Health Care Center who were terminated on Monday. He said he is certain there will be an impact for veterans seeking care.
“It runs the gamut of all the supporting positions, but there’s nothing in a hospital that’s not essential,” he explained. “Many people were already doing their job and an additional job and assisting in other portions just to get the mission done, so this is going to make it even harder for those that are still there.”
Lawmakers on Veterans Affairs committees question the workforce reductions
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said they have asked the VA for lists of those who were affected by the reductions broken down by location and occupation during a joint House and Senate Veterans Affairs committee hearing on Tuesday.
“VA must be forthcoming and transparent to Congress, to [veteran service organizations], to the public, to its workforce, regarding workforce strategy,” Moran said. “We await additional answers to our questions.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the committee’s ranking member, said the cuts will do “long-term damage to recruit and retain talented doctors, nurses and others wanting to pursue a career serving veterans.”
“Not only does it destroy trust, but it disrespects the service of a number of veterans and military spouses who work at VA — unjustly upending their lives and their careers,” he said.
Blumenthal and 35 other Senate Democrats are calling on the VA to rehire all 1,000 of its recently terminated probationary employees, sending a letter to Collins a week ago.
Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said he supported the reduction in force and trusts Collins.
“He is himself a veteran and two because he knows the mission in serving veterans. As chairman and as a veteran myself, my mission is the same: Veterans, the people sitting in front of us right now, are my No. 1 priority, not protecting bureaucracy,” Bost said during the hearing.
As for Mulvey, he said he’d think twice before returning to work for the federal government.
VA LAYOFFS SPARK CONCERNS ABOUT VETERANS’ CARE: ‘THIS COULD BE LIFE OR DEATH’
“My wife asked me yesterday, if they offer you your position back, will you take it? And honestly, I kind of thought about it and I don’t know,” he said.
“I feel bad for everyone that’s still there because there’s a sword hanging over their heads. Will today be their last day? Will they be fired for no reason other than someone 1,000 miles removed has made a decision on a spreadsheet.”
