The administration of US President Donald Trump is set to eliminate over 70,000 jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which manages veterans' health care and benefits, according to VA Secretary Doug Collins on Wednesday.

This downsizing is part of Trump's sweeping cost-cutting agenda, spearheaded by billionaire advisor Elon Musk. The decision has already sparked strong opposition from Democrats.

"For many years, veterans have been asking for a more efficient, accountable, and transparent VA. This administration is finally going to give the veterans what they want," Collins said in a video posted on X.

Collins outlined the administration’s objective to bring VA staffing levels back to "2019 end-strength numbers—roughly 398,000 employees—from our current level of approximately 470,000 employees." His figures were lower than a VA statement last month, which placed the workforce at over 479,000.

Despite the planned job reductions, Collins assured, "We're going to accomplish this without making cuts to health care or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries."

A VA memo obtained by AFP indicated that the department would collaborate with Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to "identify and eliminate waste, reduce management and bureaucracy, reduce footprint, and increase workforce efficiency," initially aiming to return to 2019 staffing levels.

'Create chaos'

Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, strongly condemned the move, stating, "These soon-to-be fired workers are patriotic Americans who chose to work at the VA because they genuinely care for the welfare of veterans and their families."

He further warned, "The VA has been severely understaffed for many years, resulting in longer wait times for veterans in need. The DOGE plunder of career VA employees, adding to the illegal mass firings of thousands of probationary employees, can only make matters worse."

Democratic lawmakers also criticized the plan, with Representative Mark Takano of California calling it "a deliberate dismantling of VA’s workforce" and "an outright betrayal of veterans."

"These cuts won’t just impact those seeking health care. They will create chaos across every aspect of VA," he cautioned.

Senator Patty Murray of Washington also expressed outrage, saying, "It is infuriating that two billionaires think they can fire tens of thousands of people responsible for administering the services and care that over nine million veterans across the country count on," referring to Trump and Musk.

Driving the news

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has aggressively pursued his goal of reducing public spending and cutting down the federal bureaucracy—one of his key campaign promises.

To achieve this, he appointed Musk, a major campaign donor and close advisor, to lead DOGE, which has already eliminated thousands of government jobs and disrupted agencies, leading to multiple lawsuits.

Musk's efforts initially targeted federal officials involved in diversity programs, and the administration has also pushed to shut down various humanitarian and aid initiatives worldwide.

Additionally, an AFP source familiar with internal discussions revealed that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is considering cutting up to half of its roughly 90,000 employees.