The Department of Veterans Affairs would have to ensure that its staffing levels can deliver timely care and benefits under a spending bill advanced by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
The language in the Senate's version of the fiscal 2026 VA appropriations bill offers a mild, but notable bipartisan rebuke of staffing cuts at the VA, which have been pared down but are still expected to eliminate about 30,000 jobs.
The bill "includes important bipartisan provisions to protect the VA workforce to ensure that veterans are never denied care or timely access to care as a result of damaging or arbitrary cuts to the VA workforce," Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee's VA and military construction subcommittee, said at Thursday's committee meeting.
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Ossoff was referring to an amendment included in a bipartisan package of amendments that was approved in a voice vote, a spokesperson confirmed.
The amendment, offered by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., specifically directs the VA "to maintain staffing levels to facilitate the department's own goals, including that benefits claims are adjudicated according to the 125-day goal, and that health care appointments and service are provided in the timeframes required by statute and regulation."
The amendment comes after the VA announced that, while it will not conduct mass firings this year as initially proposed, it still expects to lose about 30,000 employees by the end of the fiscal year in September through resignations, retirements and other forms of attrition.
In its announcement earlier this month, the VA insisted that it "has multiple safeguards in place to ensure these staff reductions do not impact veteran care or benefits." The department touted what it framed as evidence that cuts aren't hurting veterans, including a reduction in the disability benefits claims backlog.
While the less drastic job cuts elicited praise from Republicans and some veterans groups that veterans services were spared, some lawmakers, particularly Democrats, continued to sound the alarm that a 30,000-worker reduction could still diminish care and benefits.
The Senate's VA appropriations bill indicates some lingering bipartisan concern.
In addition to Peters' amendment, the non-binding report accompanying the bill also expresses concern about the department's staffing levels, particularly for health care workers.
"The committee is concerned about existing employee vacancies within [the Veterans Health Administration] and the potential impact on veterans of the elimination of thousands of full-time staff from the agency," the report said.
The report calls for the department to brief the House and Senate Appropriations committees quarterly on staffing levels broken down by the geographic areas the VA separates its medical centers into, called Veterans Integrated Service Networks. The briefings should also include the number of positions filled or removed for physicians, dentists, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurse assistants, non-physician providers, medical support assistants and housing assistance case managers, according to the report.
The bill as a whole was approved by the committee in a bipartisan, 26-3 vote. All three "no" votes came from Democrats: Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.
The bill's funding levels largely track with the administration's budget request for the VA for fiscal 2026. It would allocate roughly $133 billion in discretionary funding for the VA, including about $34 billion for the program for veterans to see private doctors using VA funding.
The bill must still be approved by the full Senate and reconciled with the House version of the bill, which was approved by the full House in a mostly party-line vote last month. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., took a procedural step Thursday that sets the Senate bill up to be debated and voted on as soon as next week.
