Jobs & VA Staffing
2025 March
2025-03-05 Veteran Eric Rodriguez spoke out after the Trump administration cut 400,000 jobs, dragging the VA back to 2019 staffing levels.
2025 June
2025-06-13 During an interview, a VA nurse cited, “there has been a long-time nursing staffing crisis…on top of that they are saying ‘not only are we not going to hire and fill those positions, we’re going to get rid of more staff”.
2025 August
2025-08-12 An audit of the VA healthcare system showed 139 medical campuses were suffering severe staffing shortages.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/13/department-veterans-affairs-shortages-trump
2025 December
2025-12-15 The Trump administration planned to eliminate tens of thousands of VA health care jobs, reportedly around 35,000.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/13/va-veterans-affairs-job-cuts-trump/
2026 April
2026-04-28 (for context, because we need more nurses) Senator Merkley pressed DOE Linda McMahon on why she gutted the TRIO program designed to encourage professional nursing careers. McMahon claimed that somehow removing nursing jobs from a professional category would make tuition more affordable. What actually happens is students who can’t get a sufficient federal loan on a low interest rate will now have to seek out PRIVATIZED loan companies with a much higher interest rate. Remember, in November 2025 the DOE declassified nursing careers from being considered professional.
TIMESTAMP 5:32 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDtPiBp3j3Y&list=WL&index=1&t=321s