BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Internal documents obtained by the Scripps News Group suggest that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) might be preparing to cut more than 20% of its workforce over the next two years.
VA officials assure the public that veteran care will remain unaffected, with the department secretary going as far as to call this plan "fraudulent." Congressman Tim Kennedy refuted the VA's dismissal of the internal documents.
"All you have to do is look at the memo that the secretary put out to the VA, saying that their goal is to restore the personnel in the VA across the country to service levels of 2019. That number was 399,000 people servicing our veterans, where today we are over 480,000," Kennedy said. "This is putting our veterans' healthcare at risk across this country."
Army veterans Joe Pasek and Reverend Eugene L. Pierce voiced their top VA concerns at a roundtable discussion Friday with Kennedy.
"We are concerned about the conditions at the VA hospital here in Buffalo," Pasek shared. "Veterans who fought for this country deserve the care we were hoping to receive."
"We gave a lot for this country. We served to protect and defend, now don't forget us," Pierce said. "It will result in a continuous decrease in our benefits."
The statements from the VA to our Scripps News Group team say any cuts would not impact services, and "neither medical staff nor claims processors would be impacted."
In response to these concerns, Kennedy has committed to taking the veterans' worries directly to Capitol Hill.
