More than 300,000 Department of Veterans Affairs health care jobs are exempt from the White House’s federal hiring freeze, according to a department memo sent this week.
Still, it remains unclear how the hiring freeze and exemptions will impact the Hampton VA Medical Center, which was the subject of both congressional and federal watchdog investigations last year that highlighted a string of failures there and led to top leadership changes.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order implementing a federal hiring freeze. The freeze forbade any federal civil positions that were vacant by noon on Monday from being filled and new positions from being created, with some exemptions for positions related to military personnel of the armed forces, immigration enforcement, national security and public safety.
The Thursday memo from acting VA Secretary Todd Hunter lists more than 35 types of positions exempt from the hiring freeze, including medical officers, nurses, therapists and physician’s assistants and allows employees set to start work on or before Feb. 8 to proceed with hiring and onboarding. Hunter said these included positions deemed critical to delivering care to veterans in the Veterans Health Administration.
The Hampton VA Medical Center did not return calls for comment. A regional VA spokesperson did not address questions about the local impact.
Democrats have expressed concern over the impact the hiring freeze would have on people who rely on federal government services.
Rep. Bobby Scott joined a team of Virginia Democrats — led by Rep. Jennifer McClellan — who urged Trump to revise or revoke his hiring freeze on federal civilian employees and said the freeze had already impacted hiring efforts in the state.
“The Richmond VA Medical Center was forced to rescind job offers for critical positions and temporarily halt local partnerships that allow medical students to spend part of their residency and clinical training at the facility in response to this mandate,” wrote the lawmakers. “The freeze prevents the new Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center – soon to be the largest VA health facility in the nation – from opening fully staffed and operational as scheduled on February 28.”
They said “similar disruptions to hiring and important community-based programs” were being felt at the Hampton VA Medical Center and Salem VA Medical Center.
But Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, who led last year’s congressional investigation into issues at the Hampton VA Medical Center, said in a statement that the hiring freeze “gives us the opportunity to closely assess the employment needs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, hold our own Hampton VA to a higher standard, and make sure our veterans receive the quality care they deserve.”
Kiggans chairs the Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations for the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, which launched an investigation into deliver of care at the medical center. The investigation led to the replacement of the center’s director, chief of staff and chief of surgery, as well as taking action to address an anesthesiologist shortage, staff morale and allegations of retaliation.
Kiggans did not address questions about whether those staffing issues have all been addressed, and referred questions to the Hampton VA Medical Center. But she noted the latest federal guidance “clarifies that the hiring of essential positions critical to delivering patient care to veterans.”
A report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also identified problems at the medical center last year related to surgical services and how leadership there addressed quality management concerns. In July, VA officials said the department took the allegations of oversight and misconduct “seriously” and that the VA planned to implement all recommendations by December. The inspector general’s report lists 12 recommendation, however only three of them are currently marked as complete.
Hunter’s memo indicates there are also positions critical to veteran’s benefits that may be exempted, although requests must be made to the Office of Personnel Management.
Despite the listed exemptions, Rep. Bobby Scott, a Democrat, fears the freeze might create additional hurdles for VA hospitals. Aides with his office expressed concern that the freeze may prevent hospitals from hiring support staff.
“The implementation of the federal hiring freeze has further stressed VA hospitals, many of which were already struggling to fulfill their commitments to veterans,” Scott said in a statement. “We have been working to improve services at the Hampton VA for years but this executive order raises more questions and adds further confusion.”
Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com
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