Another round of employee cuts Monday at the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs brought the total number of layoffs to 2,400 in less than a month, the latest reductions by President Donald Trump aimed at radically shrinking the federal workforce.
The 1,400 workers laid off on Monday were all “bargaining-unit probationary employees” in “non-mission critical roles,” including “DEI-related positions,” the VA said in a statement.
Responders with the VA’s Veterans Crisis Line are “mission critical” roles, according to the statement. But a Veterans Crisis Line employee with knowledge of the firing said 15 of their coworkers were fired. And a congressional aide familiar with the issue said more workers on the crisis line were fired than during the first wave of layoffs, when around a dozen lost their jobs. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue.
A second employee said one of those fired was a social services assistant helping with emergency dispatch for the hotline.
Last week, the VA denied that any employees from the crisis line were laid off, even as USA TODAY and other outlets reported that around a dozen were fired. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a member of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, said at least some of the employees would be rehired after she and other Democratic senators raised the issue to the Department.
The abrupt firings by Trump and his top advisor, multibillionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, have roiled the government and outraged critics who say workers in nuclear security, forest fire prevention and bird flu response have been culled without warning.
The VA did not respond to a request for comment.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, Musk lay off 1,400 more VA employees in latest federal purge
