Former Veterans Affairs official: VA job cuts won’t help veterans

SALT LAKE CITY — A former executive with the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t know if veterans employed by the VA will be spared when 80,000 jobs are cut. But he said he is hopeful.

The VA job cuts became known on Wednesday, when the Associated Press reported on an internal memo from the VA’s chief of staff. According to the AP, the department’s objective was to cut employee numbers to the staffing they had in 2019. That year, staffing at the VA greatly expanded due to the 2022 PACT Act.

 

The PACT Act expanded health care and benefits to veterans exposed to toxins during the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, as well as post-Sept. 11 veterans.

“The VA has 470,000 employees,” said Terry Schow, former executive director of the Utah Department of Veteran Affairs. “Most of those are … 50,000 to 70,000 were hired because of the PACT Act.”

Schow said he recently spoke with Rep. Blake Moore, who said the employees who’ll lose their jobs, initially, are probationary, or newly hired employees. 

He’s all for getting rid of fraud and waste within the federal government. But Schow said that his main concern is with veterans employed by the VA, and their families. 

Backlogs at the VA

The Veterans Administration increased their employee ranks after passage of the 2022 PACT Act. According to the VA, nearly 800,000 veterans signed up for VA benefits since the PACT Act became law. Since 2023, the VA estimates it has received 1,932,310 claims covered by the PACT Act.

This January, the VA announced some changes to their procedures intended to address a years-long claims backlog, including the use of artificial intelligence to help review and process claims. Still, according to detailed claims data accessed via its website on March 5, 2025, the VA said there were more than 935,000 pending claims.

Schow said reducing the VA work force won’t help the backlog.

“It takes a while to train a VA employee … some of these are going to take a year or more before they’re halfway proficient,” he said.

Despite the time it may take to train them, Schow said the VA employees he knows in Utah do a tremendous job.

Apprehensive about VA job cuts

Many of the VA employees Schow has spoken with are fearful for their jobs, he said. And they are apprehensive. He is hoping that the Trump administration will “take a breath and look at this.”

And he wants the veterans, some of them disabled, who work at the VA, to be taken care of.

“I want to see veterans and their families looked after, and those who care for them, and who provide benefits assistance as well.”

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