The move to downsize the VA brings Trump's unprecedented cost-cutting efforts, led by billionaire adviser Elon Musk, into another sensitive area, with Democrats quick to voice their displeasure with the plan.
“Our goal is to reduce VA employment levels (to) 2019 end-strength numbers -- roughly 398,000 employees -- from our current level of approximately 470,000 employees,“ he said, giving a lower current number of staff than a department statement from last month, which put the total at more than 479,000.
AFP had earlier obtained a VA memo saying the department would work in concert with Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to “identify and eliminate waste, reduce management and bureaucracy, reduce footprint, and increase workforce efficiency,“ with an initial aim of returning to 2019 staffing levels.
'Create chaos'
Some Democratic lawmakers also took aim at the planned cuts, including Representative Mark Takano of California, who said in a statement: “This deliberate dismantling of VA’s workforce... isn’t just dangerous -- it’s an outright betrayal of veterans.”
Senator Patty Murray of Washington said it is “infuriating that two billionaires think they can fire tens of thousands of people responsible for administering the services and care that over nine million veterans across the country count on,“ referring to Trump and Musk.
To that end, he tapped Musk, a top campaign donor turned close adviser, to lead DOGE, which has cut thousands of government jobs and upended agencies -- prompting numerous lawsuits.
His administration has also sought to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), ending many humanitarian and other support projects around the globe.
And a source with knowledge of the situation told AFP on Tuesday that the Internal Revenue Service -- responsible for collecting US federal taxes -- is considering letting go up to half of its approximately 90,000 employees.
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