CNN
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The call centers that America’s military veterans rely on to schedule appointments and arrange medical care may no longer have a live voice on the other end of the line because the agents who handle the calls are set to be laid off, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans for cutbacks at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Under the proposal, sources said the agency would move to automation, reducing the need for live agents.
President Donald Trump ordered mass layoffs across the federal government in February, telling agency heads in an executive action to submit their proposals to the Office of Management and Budget. While many of those agency proposals remain under wraps, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins acknowledged in an interview with Fox News earlier this month that laying off 80,000 VA employees was “a goal, our target.”
Such a reduction would represent nearly 20% of the VA’s workforce. About 2,400 employees at the department have already been fired.
The layoff plan at the VA would also affect medical and health care support staff, administrative roles including HR personnel, and regional and central office staff including those in strategic planning and procurement, according to sources in the agency and on Capitol Hill. The VA also is working with the Department of Government Efficiency to cut costs and identify contracts to cancel.
VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz said they are aiming to fix “major problems” at the agency, and he stressed that no final decisions have been made.
“As part of this process, we’ve asked career subject-matter expert employees and senior executives for recommendations on how to improve care and benefits for Veterans without cutting care and benefits for Veterans,” he said in a statement. “The end result of our reforms will be maintaining and expanding VA’s mission-essential jobs like doctors, nurses and claims processors, while phasing out non-mission essential roles like interior designers and DEI officers.”
Following publication of this story, Kasperowicz said the layoff plan as described by sources amounted to “disinformation” and faulted CNN for “creating unwarranted fears” by reporting on it.
“This story is based on deliberately leaked false information that does not reflect VA’s reform plan, which is still being developed,” Kasperowicz said in a statement. “The fact is almost everything in this story is false.”
A Democratic congressional staffer who had been briefed by multiple VA officials called the layoff plan at the call centers “heartless and dangerous.”
“Veterans in need of life-saving care and compassion should be met with a person who understands their needs and can provide them the information and resources they seek, not a lifeless machine,” the staffer added. The staffer also noted that the veteran population in the U.S. is comprised of many disabled and elderly people who may be discouraged from reaching out for help without a live person on the other end of the line at VA call centers.
Democrats have seized on the planned layoffs at the VA and any impact on services for veterans, who often enjoy widespread, bipartisan support. On Capitol Hill, Sen. Richard Blumenthal is planning a series of so-called “shadow hearings,” or unofficial hearings held by the minority party, on VA cuts starting next week.
Blumenthal, the ranking member on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, took to the Senate floor Wednesday to decry “real-life impacts … to our nation’s heroes.” The Connecticut Democrat said: “It is a disgrace. It is shameful.”
According to Secretary Collins, the VA has four employees who act as liaisons to DOGE, which has been at the center of Elon Musk-led efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.
“They are working to streamline operations, improve management, and are also examining contracts,” Collins wrote in a letter this week to Blumenthal.
Blumenthal had raised concerns about DOGE gaining access to federal databases and systems and the vulnerability of veterans’ health records and other private information. Collins responded that the VA is committed to safeguarding veterans’ data. “To be very clear: DOGE does not have access to Veterans’ personal records,” Collins wrote.
In recent weeks, the VA along with DOGE have moved to cancel hundreds of contracts, though some have since been put under review for possible reinstatement, according to congressional sources familiar with those efforts.
Veterans advocates also have questions about the impact of changes at the VA.
“We’ve expressed our concerns with the potential RIF both publicly and directly with VA… We’re now anticipating official word from VA on what it determines through its assessment and look forward to a plan that ensures VA can continue to deliver timely care and benefits,” Randi K. Law, senior director of marketing communications for Veterans of Foreign Wars, said in a statement, adding that “VFW members and veterans all agree there are places where VA needs to be more efficient.”
Among the medical and health care support staff targeted for layoffs at the VA are non-patient facing administrative roles, contract positions in VA medical centers and certain research positions, congressional sources said.
Staffers on Capitol Hill who have been in contact with VA employees told CNN that the agency has already terminated some supply clerks at VA medical facilities. These are people who, among their other duties, handle re-stocking of surgical supplies for operating rooms. Their departure increases the burden on nurses and other staff to handle those duties, they said.
The layoff plan as described by sources also includes a large scaling-back of Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN’s). These are smaller, regional VA offices that provide oversight of the VA’s medical facilities across the country and handle telehealth support and call centers.
The VA employees being targeted for layoffs in “administrative and support roles” could include medical appointment schedulers, billing specialists, policy and program analysts and human resources personnel, sources said.
They point out that the VA’s Human Resources offices had already been severely under-staffed for many years and were just starting to build back up. “This is exceptionally short-sighted,” one congressional staffer told CNN. “Not only does HR assist with hiring staff, but also processing firing, demotion, promotion, and disciplinary actions; assisting employees with benefits and retirement, and more.”
The layoffs will come in waves over the next few months, the sources said. Specific employees at risk of being fired will start being identified in April and May. Impacted employees will be notified in June.
The first round of layoffs will begin in July, and a second round will begin in September. Assessments will be taken after each round to evaluate disruptions. Some affected employees will transition into new roles, and the department plans to help some affected workers seek other federal employment.
This story has been updated with additional reaction.
