Senator Hassan Stands Up for Veterans as Trump Administration Plans to Slash VA Staffing

WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) pressed a Veterans Affairs (VA) official about the risk to veterans’ care and benefits from the Trump Administration’s plan to fire tens of thousands of employees from the VA during a hearing in the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. These mass firings would jeopardize the ability of veterans across the country to receive the health care, support, and benefits that they have earned and deserve.  

To watch Senator Hassan’s hearing questions, click here. 

Senator Hassan began her questioning of Mark Engelbaum, Assistant Secretary for the VA Office of Human Resources and Administration / Operations, Security, and Preparedness by describing the impact of the PACT Act, which Senator Hassan helped develop and pass into law to fundamentally reform and improve the ways in which veterans exposed to toxic substances get health care and benefits, and why it is necessary to have enough VA employees to process benefits claims and provide care. “Since it became law, more than 200,000 veterans have enrolled for VA care under the PACT Act, and more than 2.3 million PACT Act-related benefit claims have been submitted. To serve these veterans, the VA hired more than 60,000 new employees to meet the increased demand for VA care and benefits. Since President Trump has taken office though, the VA has fired 2,400 employees and now is planning to fire 80,000 more.”  

Senator Hassan continued, “Not only does this contradict the clear intent of Congress, it really does a disservice to our veterans. When you fire VA employees, veterans suffer. If you fire front desk staff, veterans can’t schedule appointments. If you fire maintenance and support employees, hospitals and equipment don’t get cleaned. If you fire benefits administration employees, claims get delayed.” 

She then pushed Mr. Engelbaum to guarantee that care for veterans would not be negatively impacted by the planned firings. “Can you guarantee that if the VA fires thousands more employees, it will not take longer for veterans to get appointments and receive care?” Senator Hassan pressed. Mr. Engelbaum only guaranteed a “detailed, methodical review” of the VA’s structure and organization, and he refused to commit that the review and employee terminations would not delay or negatively impact care for veterans.  

Senator Hassan joined her colleagues in urging Mr. Engelbaum to provide a written plan detailing the supposedly “methodical” review that he claims to be conducting. She emphasized that proper staffing levels at the VA are non-negotiable for ensuring that veterans covered under the PACT Act receive the timely care and benefits that they have earned and deserve. 

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