Frontline VA health jobs cut despite officials saying they’d largely be protected

VA staffing cuts include health care workers despite officials suggesting they’d be protected. Veterans already faced long wait times for care.

US Department of Veterans Affairs officials have eliminated frontline jobs for staffers who provide care to veterans, even though agency leaders previously declared such positions would largely be protected from cuts, according to a CNN review of documents and interviews with more than 20 VA employees and job applicants. Positions for psychologists, clinical social workers and others have been cut, and some job offers have been rescinded in recent weeks and months as the agency seeks to address a budgetary shortfall and shave its workforce by 10,000 positions. The job reductions come at a time when some veterans continue to face extended wait times for service and as suicides among veterans remain disproportionately high. The cuts have rankled rank-and-file VA employees as their department has been embroiled in a scandal for improperly awarding about $11 million in bonuses to senior VA executives last year, as detailed in a May inspector general report. VA Secretary Denis McDonough said the VA canceled the bonuses and began recouping them after realizing the error. The eliminations follow a surge in VA hiring. The agency added tens of thousands of staffers to its ranks last year to keep pace with an increase in veterans seeking care, but VA insiders now fear the job eliminations — especially those involving frontline positions — could undercut their health system. In recent weeks, lawmakers have requested information from the VA about its job reduction strategy after hearing reports that jobs that provide direct care for veterans have been targeted. CNN has confirmed with VA staffers and prospective hires that offers for such positions have been rescinded.