VA dismisses over 1,000 employees as part of probationary worker purge

Veterans Affairs leaders dismissed more than 1,000 employees Thursday night as part of a White House purge of government workers still in their probationary periods, an effort designed to dramatically reduce the size of the federal workforce.

In a statement, VA Secretary Doug Collins said the elimination of the posts will save roughly $98 million annually, funds that can be redirected into veterans’ care and benefits.

“We thank these employees for their service to VA,” he said. “This was a tough decision, but ultimately it’s the right call to better support the veterans, families, caregivers and survivors the department exists to serve.

“To be perfectly clear: These moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”

Roughly 479,000 employees work in department health care, benefits processing, memorial services and program support jobs. Of that total, about 43,000 are still in their probationary period, having served less than two years.

VA officials said the vast majority of the probationary group were exempt from dismissal because they hold “mission-critical positions” or are part of a federal workers union.

According to sources within the department, at least one probationary employee at the Veterans Crisis Line was let go as part of the dismissals. VA officials said supervisors were allowed to request exemptions for staffers identified for firing, but were given only a short period of time to make those counterarguments.

The moves came just hours after the White House closed its buyout offer for tens of thousands of federal employees, offering them eight months severance pay in exchange for resignations. About 75,000 individuals accepted that offer, well short of the 200,000 administration officials had hoped would consider it.

It also came just hours after Democratic lawmakers and union officials rallied outside the department’s Washington, D.C., headquarters to protest potential staff and funding cuts. On Thursday night, the dismissals drew swift condemnation from those same groups.

“It is reprehensible to target recently hired federal employees — particularly those who have chosen to serve veterans — solely because they have less due process rights and employment protections than other employees,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, and ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

“Make no mistake — Trump is looking to fire probationary employees because it is easy, not because it is good for veterans or cost effective. In fact, it is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars to fire employees that the department just invested months into recruiting, vetting and training.”

Officials from the American Federation of Government Employees said the dismissals were not about improving efficiency but instead “are about gutting the federal government, silencing workers, and forcing agencies into submission to a radical agenda that prioritizes cronyism over competence.”

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be fired under the probationary employee purge in coming days, although Office of Personnel Management officials have not said how many individuals they hope to cull from federal payrolls.