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The Department of Veterans Affairs is scrapping plans for mass layoffs
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backing off a proposal that would have cut 83,000 jobs. The proposal outlined in a VA memo followed an executive order by President Donald Trump
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and aimed to roll staffing back to 2019 levels. VA hiring surged during the Biden administration
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after passage of the PACT Act, which expanded benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances
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But after blowback from lawmakers, veterans groups and even officials inside the VA, the agency says it's taking a different approach
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Instead of 83,000 layoffs, the department expects to lose about 30,000 workers through retirement, satrition and deferred resignations
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17,000 have already left and another 12,000 could exit by the end of September
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To protect frontline services, the VA exempted more than 350,000 positions, including doctors, nurses and claims processors, from hiring freezes and early retirement offers
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Still, critics aren't convinced. Senator Richard Blumenthal says the agency is, quote, bleeding employees across the board at an unsustainable rate
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He blames poor planning in what he called a toxic work environment. The VA points to signs of progress, including faster processing of disability claims
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renewed rollout of its electronic health record system, and plans to consolidate payroll and
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call centers. The department insists access to care won't suffer. But with tens of thousands
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of employees still on the way out, the pressure to deliver for veterans is only growing
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For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey. For more on this story, download the Straight Arrow News app or go to san.com