'VA Has A Failure Of Leadership Crisis': Delia Ramirez Drops The Hammer On VA Secretary Collins

4 months ago

During a House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) spoke about staffing cuts at the VA.

Transcript

00:00And I now recognize Ranking Member Ramirez for her opening comments.

00:05Thank you, Chair Kiggins. Today's hearing's topic is critically important.

00:10We are examining the use and the oversight of the quote-unquote 3R incentives at VA. Recruitment,

00:18retention, and relocation bonuses. The so-called 3Rs help VA attract talent.

00:23Earlier this month, Secretary Collins celebrated the VA will lose nearly 30,000 employees by the

00:30end of the fiscal year. I find that despicable. I want to be clear. Every VA employee is mission

00:37critical. Every VA employee ensures veterans get the care and benefits they've earned and deserve.

00:43So if we care about veterans care and services, it is more important than ever that we discuss

00:48how the VA keeps employees as Secretary Collins deconstructs, decimates, and demoralizes the

00:54workforce. Veteran care is already being negatively impacted by the destruction of the VA workforce.

01:00For instance, we know that doctor appointments for veterans have been canceled due to staffing

01:05shortages. And we know this because veterans have told us themselves. So how do we course correct?

01:11How do we ensure the VA has a workforce in need to support the care veterans have earned and deserve?

01:16First, we have to ensure that the VA is a place where people feel valued, not disposable, and not

01:22attacked. As a former executive director of a non-profit organization, I know that public sector

01:28agencies like the VA and non-profit organizations cannot compete with the private sector in terms of

01:34salary in many places across the country. In tough markets, 3R incentives help make VA offer more

01:41competitive wages. They are a tool to attract and retain highly qualified employees to the agency.

01:48I understand that this hearing is meant to focus on the VA Inspector General's findings from a report

01:52released earlier this summer that the VA needs more oversight of 3R incentives. I do not disagree that

01:59the VA must be a good steward of taxpayer dollars and that we must ensure that the correct employees are

02:04receiving the correct pay for the correct period of time. No objection, no disagreement there. At the same

02:11time, we must ensure that the VA's oversight of the 3R incentives does not make them a more burdensome

02:18and less useful tool for leaders who need them to recruit and to retain staff. We need to hold two

02:25objectives at the same time. The process must work and it must allow to be competitive by working quickly

02:32and efficiently. If we do not meet both of these goals, I fear that greater layers of bureaucracy

02:38may discentivize leaders from offering 3R awards. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today

02:44about how we can strike a balance to ensure 3R incentives are being used properly, efficiently, and routinely.

02:50I'm going to show a series of posters with data pulled directly from the VA's workforce dashboard

02:57published on June 27, 2025. Numbers don't lie. We can see here a sharp decline in both recruitment

03:07and retention since Secretary Collins took the helm. The VA has seen an over 45% reduction in job applicants

03:16this year compared to last year. VA saw an over 56% reduction in new employees actually starting jobs.

03:26The VA lost 4,144 employees in mission-critical occupations as defined by the VA since the

03:34beginning of this fiscal year. Compare that to the Biden administration only losing 111 employees

03:41in mission-critical occupations during the same period in 2024. And as if losing 4,100 employees

03:50in VA-designated mission-critical occupations wasn't bad enough, I want you guys to take a closer look

03:57at how many employees Secretary Collins has lost in some key veteran-facing roles. To be clear,

04:04these numbers are not net losses. They're net losses, not just normal attrition. The numbers we are

04:11looking at account for any new hires. And again, these are positions that are not subject to the

04:16hiring freeze and were exempt from the DRP. So what you're seeing is that since the start of this fiscal

04:22year, the VA has lost a net of 1,720 registered nurses, 1,147 medical support assistants, 604 physicians,

04:35193 police officers, 77 psychologists, 358 social workers, 1,081 veteran claim examiners,

04:47868 custodial workers. So by its own data, the VA has had over 7,500 employees in veteran-facing roles

04:58leave their jobs this fiscal year and their positions have not been backfilled. So how can

05:04Secretary Collins look at us and at veterans with a straight face and say that veterans care has not

05:10been affected by staffing changes when he's lost at least 7,500 veteran-facing employees? The numbers

05:19we're looking at and their impact on veteran care is upsetting. And if you're not mad yet, just take a

05:26look at our next poster so we can get a sense of why these employees have left the VA. Reasons for leaving,

05:34a series of concerns. For example, geographical relocation, desired work schedule not offered,

05:44lack of trust and confidence in senior leaders. Again, lack of trust and confidence in your leaders

05:51from social workers. Medical and dental are talking about the work schedule offered doesn't work for

05:59their ability to serve the veterans. And then you see over and over and over, lack of trust and confidence

06:05in senior leaders, lack of trust and confidence in senior leaders. And you also see here from

06:12contracting officers unethical behavior on the part of leadership or the organization. That's why

06:20medical and dental, general administration, psychologists, social workers, HR specialists,

06:24HR assistants, cemetery caretakers, veterans claim exam, processing personnel, contracting officers,

06:30and IT specialists are leaving. Any quality leader I know who got this feedback in their exit interview

06:36would do some serious self-reflection. But the VA has a failure of leadership crisis and Secretary

06:42Collins is to blame. Secretary Collins accuses us of fear-mongering and lying when we raise the alarm

06:48that veteran care is being impacted. But these numbers don't lie. There's just no possible way that

06:54VA could lose 7,500 veteran-facing employees without care being impacted. The Secretary could turn the

07:00ship around to attract and retain more employees to care for veterans. And the 3R incentives are one

07:06of those tools. But he isn't because he doesn't want to turn the ship around. He's committed to

07:12destructive collision course. Let's look at the dashboard even closer. Just take a look at the reduction in the

07:20use of PACT Act authorities, like recruitment and retention incentives from year 2024 to year 2025.

07:29Last year, during the Biden administration, retention incentives were used nearly 20,000 times.

07:36This year, under Collins and Trump, only 7,000 times. Recruitment incentives were used 6,000 times in year 2024,

07:45but they've barely used them 1,000 times this year. And take a look at this number. Special

07:51contribution awards. These are used when a VA employee goes above and beyond the call of duty

07:57when caring for veterans. When Biden was president, nearly 30,000 special contribution awards were given

08:03to VA employees. Under Collins, barely 7,000 awards have been made. Here's the bottom line. It's not that VA

08:11employees are less meritorious than they were under Biden. It's that no matter what the VA employees

08:17do, they will never really receive 3R awards. Because the Trump administration, through Secretary

08:23Collins, wants them to leave. They want every employee to be pushed off so they can decimate

08:28the VA's workforce and destroy it in order to justify privatizing the VA. Secretary Collins has made VA

08:34employees his target and, in doing so, has targeted veterans who rely on VA for their care and benefits.

08:40So, yes, it is more important than ever that we do everything we can to keep VA employees working

08:46and caring for our veterans. Secretary Collins' tenure at the VA has been one of torment. For months,

08:52VA employees have worried they would lose their jobs and livelihood through a RIF. Now, while Secretary

08:58Collins promises that a quote-unquote large-scale RIF is off the table for the time being, we all remain

09:04concerned that if he is leaving the door open to eliminate positions through the reorganization and

09:10consolidation. And veterans worry that their service and care will be impacted by the changes in the VA

09:16workforce. Well, veterans are right. How can we expect to provide high-quality services through a robust,

09:23talented workforce under these kind of conditions? But again, the instability, the uncertainty, the

09:29volatility is the point. Veterans deserve a VA that they can rely on, and Secretary Collins is

09:36undermining the VA and its workforce at every chance he gets. It is why I look forward to our

09:42conversation today and hearing for our witnesses. And with that, I yield back.

'VA Has A Failure Of Leadership Crisis': Delia Ramirez Drops The Hammer On VA Secretary Collins

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