US Department of Veterans Affairs announces plan to cut nearly 30,000 jobs

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday that it will reduce its total staff by nearly 30,000 by the end of this fiscal year.

"While VA had been considering a department-wide RIF to reduce staff levels by up to 15%, employee reductions through the federal hiring freeze, deferred resignations, retirements and normal attrition have eliminated the need for that RIF," the department said in a statement, referring to a reduction in force.

The agency said it had roughly 484,000 employees on Jan. 1, 2025 and 467,000 employees as of June 1, 2025 -- a reduction of nearly 17,000.

The agency expects an additional 12,000 employees to exit by Sept. 30.

“Since March, we’ve been conducting a holistic review of the department centered on reducing bureaucracy and improving services to Veterans,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins in a statement.

"A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn’t mean we’re done improving VA," he added.