The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has laid off more than 1,000 employees as part of the Trump administration’s broad federal budget cuts. According to 3News, approximately 40 of those employees came from a multistate region that includes Cleveland and nearly all of Ohio.
The firings affected probationary employees, or those in non-bargaining positions “who have served less than a year in a competitive service appointment or less than two years in an excepted service appointment.” The VA claims that this will save the department $98 million per year, which will be reallocated to veterans’ health care services.
It is unclear how many of those laid off were from Cleveland or northeast Ohio. However, the VA claims that the vast majority of its 43,000 probationary employees nationwide have kept their jobs because they are either covered by collective bargaining agreements or work in “mission-critical” positions.
According to our sources, this was also true in Veterans Integrated Service Network 10, which covers most of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and the upper tip of Kentucky.
VISN 10 encompasses more than a dozen VA hospitals, including the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Centre in University Circle. Canton also has an outpatient clinic, and community clinics and vet centres can be found in Akron, Parma, Willoughby, Mansfield, and New Philadelphia, among other cities.
Area VA leaders are currently reviewing the cuts to determine whether any of those affected were serving in mission-critical roles and thus should have kept their jobs. According to sources, some of the layoffs included young military veterans.
VA Secretary Doug Collins issued the following statement last week regarding the nationwide cuts:
“At VA, we are committed to saving money so that it can be better spent on veteran care. We appreciate these employees’ service to VA. This was a difficult decision, but it is ultimately the right one to better support the Veterans, families, carers, and survivors that the department exists to serve.
To be completely clear, these changes will have no negative impact on VA health care, benefits, or beneficiaries. In the coming weeks and months, VA will announce plans to put these resources to work for Veterans, their families, carers, and survivors.”
MORE LOCAL LAYOFFS?
As President Donald Trump’s federal purge continues, other workers in Northeast Ohio may face layoffs.
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s office tells 3News that more than 80 probationary employees at Cleveland’s Glenn Research Centre are under consideration for layoffs.
While no terminations have been confirmed, the announcement comes as NASA Glenn is in the midst of two major space projects: the Artemis program to return to the Moon and the DART mission to investigate deflecting an asteroid and changing its orbit.
The National Park Service is also making cuts, specifically about 1,000 newly hired employees who maintain and clean the parks, educate visitors, and perform other duties. According to officials, at least half of those firings occurred in Cuyahoga Valley National Park alone.
The IRS will also lay off thousands of employees in the midst of tax season. A source at the Defence Finance and Accounting Service in Cleveland tells 3News that cuts are on the way, with a focus on probationary employees and those who performed poorly on reviews.
According to government data, approximately 280,000 civilian government employees were hired less than two years ago, and the majority are still on probation, making them easier to terminate.
