Democrats blast Trump administration’s proposed Veterans Affairs cuts
- mdaviscvono
- May 9, 2025
- 4 min read
By Tom Powell,
2 days ago
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Veterans are growing concerned about the Trump administration’s proposal to downsize the Department of Veterans Affairs.
During a heated hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins defended his goal of cutting his department by 15%. “The department’s history shows that adding more employees to the system doesn’t automatically equal better results,” he said.
A day after the hearing, Arizona Democrats, led by Rep. Greg Stanton, sent a letter to Collins saying the cuts would “lead to delays in care that will hurt Arizona veterans and erode their trust in their care.”
“Unfortunately, in the not too distant past, there was a shameful period in which wait times got to be so long at the Phoenix VA that there is no doubt that veterans died as a result of waiting for the care that they need,” Stanton says. “We never ever want to go back to those dark days.”
Stanton says cuts of the size being proposed would directly impact veterans’ care and that the administration’s approach is like using a chainsaw instead of a scalpel.
Collins argues it’s about eliminating layers of bureaucracy and waste and not cutting primary health care or benefits. “Our goal, and here is the key word, our goal as we look at it as everything goes forward is a 15% decrease.”
“We all acknowledge that the VA is not perfect,” says Phoenix veteran Joanna Sweatt. She was part of a group of 75 vets who attended the hearing to oppose the cuts.
“It would cripple our system,” she says. “We know, especially as veterans, it’s not just about the doctors and the nurses, just like in the military, it’s not just about the front lines and the infantry. We need wrap-around support. We need administrative staff.”
Rep. Stanton says the VA is already short-staffed. In the letter, he writes, “because of these staffing shortages, the average wait time for new patients at most Phoenix-area VA facilities is above the standard of 20 days for primary care and mental health appointments.”
The letter to Secretary Collins asks for a response by April 30 to the following questions:
How many employees and contractors of the VA Phoenix Health Care System do you plan to terminate as part of the VA directive to lay off 15% of VA staff?
By occupational series, how many clinical staff members at the VA Phoenix Health Care System do you plan to terminate?
How many non-clinical staff do you plan to terminate at the VA Phoenix Health Care System, by occupational series?
What is your timeline for laying off such employees and contractors?
Within two weeks, please provide a time to brief the signatories below on your detailed plan on how, in light of its planned reduction in force, the VA Phoenix Health Care System will maintain a high standard of care, reduce appointment wait times, and overcome severe staffing shortages.
Democrats' letter to Phoenix VA
Contributed by
Arizona's Family (Arizona's Family)
May 6, 2025
The Honorable Doug Collins
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20420
Secretary Collins:
We write with concern about reports that the Veterans Affairs (VA) Phoenix Health Care System
plans to lay off 15% of its staff—around 800 employees—including providers and support staff
as part of VA’s planned reduction in force. This will lead to delays in care that will hurt Arizona
veterans and erode their trust in their care.
According to an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report published last August,1
the VA Phoenix
Health Care System was already facing severe occupational staffing shortages in primary care,
mental health, radiology, nursing, and health technician professions. It was also facing severe
occupational staffing shortages in nine non-clinical support positions that allow providers to
more quickly turn over rooms and appropriately assist veterans. Because of these staffing
shortages, the average wait time for new patients at most Phoenix-area VA facilities is above the
standard of 20 days for primary care and mental health appointments.
The efforts to cut providers and support staff is an egregious affront to the trust that the VA
Phoenix Health Care System has been building since 2014, when numerous veterans were found
to have died while waiting for appointments to be scheduled. The VA Congressional Liaison
wrote to us that the “initial planning goal is to reduce VA employment levels to 2019 numbers”
because “even though the Biden Administration astronomically grew the department’s budget
and number of employees, VA wait times and backlogs increased.” This utterly fails to take into
account the over 400,000 veterans who are now enrolled in VA health care—including over
9,000 Arizonans2—and 6.1 million veterans who have been screened for toxic exposure due to
the landmark PACT Act.
Our veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors deserve the highest standard of care.
VA routinely provides that—but only if there are providers and support staff to see them. We
urge you to reevaluate your reduction in force plans and request that you answer the following
questions by April 30:
1
https://www.vaoig.gov/reports/national-healthcare-review/oig-determination-veterans-health-administrationssevere-0
2
https://department.va.gov/pactdata/interactive-dashboard/
1. How many employees and contractors of the VA Phoenix Health Care System do you
plan to terminate as part of the VA directive to lay off 15% of VA staff?
2. How many clinical staff at the VA Phoenix Health Care System do you plan to terminate,
by occupational series?
3. How many non-clinical staff do you plan to terminate at the VA Phoenix Health Care
System, by occupational series?
4. What is your timeline for laying off such employees and contractors?
5. Within two weeks, please provide a time to brief the signatories below on your detailed
plan on how, in light of its planned reduction in force, the VA Phoenix Health Care
System will maintain a high standard of care, reduce appointment wait times, and
overcome severe staffing shortages.
Sincerely,
Greg Stanton
Member of Congress
Ruben Gallego
United States Senator
Mark Kelly
United States Senator
Yassamin Ansari
Member of Congress
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