Trump's federal hiring freeze sparks concerns about veterans' care

Source: The Hill

01/26/25 5:00 PM ET


President Trump’s new federal hiring freeze has congressional lawmakers and former service members worried that operations at Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities will be hindered. The government-wide freeze, which came on Day 1 of Trump’s presidency via executive order, could prevent critical health care roles from being filled and complicate care for veterans, its critics fear.

The administration has no “regard for the impact it would have on veterans’ access to healthcare and benefits, nor for the urgent need to fill critical clinical vacancies within VA, such as mental health providers and nurses,” House Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said in a statement Thursday.

“Thousands of Americans have already received notifications that VA has rescinded their job offers, despite many of these individuals having already committed financial resources to relocate, some even selling their homes. Now, they and veterans are being left in limbo.” The Trump administration implemented the freeze as a way to thin out what they see as a bureaucrat-heavy workforce. “Most of those bureaucrats are getting fired, they’re gone,” Trump said in his remarks before signing the executive order on Jan. 20. He said the move will ensure the government only hires “competent people who are faithful to the American public.”

While incoming employees with job offers given prior to Jan. 20 will be allowed to begin their jobs if their start date was scheduled for on or before Feb. 8, everyone else will have offers rescinded. Lawmakers quickly took to social media platforms to express their displeasure with the decision, which they said was potentially disruptive to agency operations.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5106168-trumps-federal-hiring-freeze-sparks-concerns-about-veterans-care/