(The Center Square) – Virginia’s Democratic delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives is urging President Donald Trump to either revise or revoke his executive order implementing a hiring freeze for the federal workforce, specifically citing medical care for veterans.
Reps. Jennifer McClellan, Bobby Scott, Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly, Suhas Subramanyam and Eugene Vindman say Trump’s executive action specifically adversely affects the veterans’ community.
The congressmen say the mandate has “forced Veterans Health Administration medical centers and clinics nationwide to rescind job offers for vital medical and support staff.”
The group cited claims that several VA medical facilities in the commonwealth have been negatively impacted by the hiring freeze, including preventing the largest VA clinic in the nation from being fully staffed.
“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,” the lawmakers wrote. “Similar disruptions to hiring and important community-based programs have impacted the Hampton VA Medical Center and Salem VA Medical Center, which, along with Richmond VA Medical Center and numerous outpatient clinics are the backbone of the VHA medical system in Virginia.”
The Democrats added that the freeze has forced the VA’s Richmond Medical Center to rescind job offers for “critical positions and temporarily halt local partnerships” to allow medical students to “spend part of their residency and clinical training at the facility.”
To be sure, the president’s order allows the director of the Office Of Personnel Management to grant an exemption from this freeze “where those exemptions are otherwise necessary.”
Last week on Tuesday, the VA’s interim Secretary Todd Hunter released a memo exempting over 300,000 health care positions from the government-wide hiring freeze, including positions “critical to delivering care to veterans.”
The action also indicates that “no federal civilian position that is vacant at noon” on Inauguration Day may be filled, adding that no new position may be created “except as otherwise provided” in the memorandum “or applicable law.”
The groups say that following pushback from members of Congress and veteran advocacy organizations, the administration issued exemptions for medical personnel. However, the lawmakers say the administration “failed to expand the exemptions to other essential hospital staff necessary” to meet veterans’ needs.
The delegation says they are concerned the process will “do irreparable harm to the VHA’s ability to hire and retain the support staff necessary” to allow VA facilities to “provide adequate patient care.”
“Given the incredibly damaging effects that this hiring freeze will have on veterans and their families and the chaos and confusion it has already unleashed on the VHA, we urge you to either revoke or clearly revise your order halting federal civilian hiring. This will ensure that VHA hospitals and medical facilities can resume hiring the staff necessary to continue providing quality and timely health care,” the lawmakers concluded.
The memorandum states that within 90 days of issuance, the Office of Management and Budget director shall submit a plan “in consultation” with the director of OPM and administrator of the U.S. DOGE Services to “reduce the size” of the federal workforce.
