Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) announced on April 1 that he would impose a blanket hold on all Department of Veterans Affairs nominees in protest of a plan to cut more than 80,000 jobs at the department.
Reports emerged on March 4, based on a leaked memo attributed to the department chief of staff, Christopher Syrek, that the Trump administration seeks to cut as many as 84,000 Veterans Affairs jobs. Such a cut, if enacted, would bring the department back to its 2019 staffing level of around 400,000 employees.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins subsequently confirmed, in a March 5 video statement, that he would pursue the cuts described in the leaked memo. In his video statement, Collins insisted the department can achieve these workforce reductions “without making cuts to healthcare or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries.”…