More than 300k VA health jobs exempted from White House hiring freeze

Veterans Affairs officials issued guidance Thursday exempting more than 300,000 department health care posts from the White House’s federal hiring freeze, labeling them as essential to public health and department operations.

The memo, issued by acting VA Secretary Todd Hunter, comes after days of concerns from lawmakers and veterans advocates over the impact of the hiring freeze, which was ordered by President Donald Trump just hours after his inauguration. Federal offices have been sending out notices this week to prospective workers alerting them of the ban on new hires.

The order did include an exception for military personnel, as well as positions related to immigration enforcement and public safety. It also stated that “nothing in this memorandum shall adversely impact the provision of Social Security, Medicare or veterans’ benefits.”

But in his confirmation hearing Tuesday, VA Secretary nominee Doug Collins acknowledged that department staff were still working through the order to determine which posts would be affected.

Hunter’s memo, provided to congressional staff, notes that any new employees set to start before Feb. 8 will be allowed to assume their roles. All other new hires will be revoked for now.

However, the memo also lists 39 exempted health profession posts, including mental health providers, physical therapists, nurses and nursing assistants, medical records administrators and prosthetic specialists. The total number of jobs on the list tops 304,000.

Hunter said the posts are “critical to delivering care to veterans in the Veteran Health Administration.”

Some positions related to veterans benefits processing will also be exempted, but offices will need to submit justification for those moves.

“VA remains committed to being deliberative in the hiring actions taken to ensure we are postured for success as we implement overall modernization efforts and reform plans in accordance with the Office of Management and Budget,” Hunter wrote in the memo.

Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, praised the administration for the response to public concerns about the impact of the hiring freeze on veterans’ care.

“I appreciate VA quickly issuing guidance to continue hiring health care and other critical VA employees to make certain veterans and their families continue receiving their care and benefits in a timely manner,” Moran said in a statement. “The last two years saw drastic inconsistencies in staffing strategy and guidance on hiring from VA, and I encourage the new administration to establish a clear long-term staffing plan.”

The 300,000 exempted VA job posts represent about two-thirds of the current department workforce. Union groups have decried the hiring freeze, calling it unnecessary and potentially disruptive for agency operations.

But the White House has argued the move is needed to slow the growth of the federal government and ordered a 90-day review to examine ways to trim the government workforce. About 3 million Americans are part of the federal workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In a separate memo this week, officials from VA’s Center for Development and Civic Engagement office said the hiring freeze will also block any new non-compensated volunteers from working at VA medical centers and other offices.

Moran’s committee on Thursday voted to advance Collins’ nomination to the full Senate by an 18-1 vote, with the lone dissent coming from Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii. She argued that Collins’ lack of support for veterans’ access to abortion services disqualified him for the post.

Moran said he is hopeful that Collins can be confirmed before the end of the month, in part to help quell other concerns about the impact of new White House policies that could impact Veterans Affairs operations.

In his confirmation hearing, Collins said he was confident that any White House efficiency initiatives would not be targeted at cutting veterans’ benefits or support services, but instead improving their delivery and availability.