Richard Blumenthal
Role at the time: Ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Response to this claim
The reorganization is not a reduction in force, and staffing and operations at VA medical centers and clinics will not change as part of it.
“At a time where VA has already lost more than 30,000 employees, his plan to eliminate tens of thousands of unfilled positions, including doctors and nurses, is totally unacceptable.”
Statement from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, issued December 13, 2025 after a Washington Post report that the VA planned to eliminate as many as 35,000 health care positions, most of them unfilled.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The reference point is the VA's reorganization of the Veterans Health Administration, announced December 15, 2025, and the staffing caps that came with it. Blumenthal rejects the elimination of vacant positions that set the new staffing baselines and says it will lengthen waits for care, which condemns the staffing caps.