Latest news with #Kasperowicz
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vets hope thousands will rally against VA cuts in nationwide protests
Veterans organizations will hold a day of protests in various cities and at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities around the country on Friday, June 6, headlined by a rally in Washington, D.C. that will feature the punk and activist band Dropkick Murphys. The protests, say organizers of the D.C. event, are aimed at speaking out against expected staffing cuts to the VA, which they say will greatly impact care for veterans. 'We want to have a big tent for this. Veterans Affairs affects more than 14 million American veterans, of every political stripe and from every socio-economic background,' Joe Plenzler, a Marine veteran, told Task & Purpose. Plenzler has previously written opinion essays for Task & Purpose about veteran issues. Along with the Washington, D.C. rally, online organizers have plans for over 200 other events at VA facilities in nearly every state, coinciding with the 81st anniversary of D-Day and the invasion of Normandy. Organizers of the D.C. event, dubbed the Unite for Veterans rally, say they expect several thousand people to turn out on the National Mall for the 2 p.m. event. Plenzler, one of the event's organizers, told Task & Purpose the rally will feature several prominent veterans as speakers, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America CEO Kyleanne Hunter, and Shawn Vandiver, founder of AfghanEvac, a non-profit that works to resettle Afghans in the United States. The organizers acknowledged that the millions of veterans in the United States can have disparate political views, but one unifying aspect behind the rally is a demand that VA care and services not be diminished. 'We want to have a big tent for this. Veterans Affairs affects more than 14 million American veterans, of every political stripe and from every socio-economic background,' Plenzler said. Plenzler said that the prospect of severe staffing cuts could both reduce care and also cost many vets their jobs, since a third of all federal employees are veterans. 'If you go into the VA, upwards of 25% of their employees are veterans. It's veterans caring for veterans,' he said. For its part, the VA has repeatedly claimed that personnel cuts won't impact care. In a statement to Task & Purpose, VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said that 'anyone who says VA is cutting health care and benefits is not being honest. In fact, VA is expanding health care and benefits.' The proposed cuts, first reported by the Associated Press, would amount to a 15% reduction of the department's workforce. VA Secretary Douglas Collins described the number as a 'goal' rather than a fixed plan last month. Kasperowicz also accused rally organizers of opposing necessary reforms on political grounds. 'Imagine how much better off veterans would be if this union-led group cared as much about fixing the department as it does about protecting VA's broken bureaucracy,' Kasperowicz said. Sen. Duckworth, in a statement to Task & Purpose, said that she was outraged at the administration's policies towards veterans. 'Donald Trump has fired more veterans than any president in modern history, and by gutting the VA he is hurting our veterans' access to the quality health care and other benefits they've earned through their service,' she said. Dusty Gannon, an Army officer who served in Afghanistan as a platoon leader, said he was planning on going to the rally because he sees a disconnect between how veterans in the U.S. are venerated and how they're cared for. 'We have this whole [generation] of veterans who fought in all of these conflicts who are all coming home, and the government is failing us,' he said. 'They've just left us high and dry.' Gannon said he hopes the rally will be a chance to meet and spend time with fellow veterans who understand the 'gravity of the experience,' he said. Nationally, organizers are tracking the times and locations of rallies on a central online spreadsheet. Navy SEAL Team 6 operator will be the military's new top enlisted leader Veterans receiving disability payments might have been underpaid, IG finds Guam barracks conditions are 'baffling,' Navy admiral says in email Navy fires admiral in charge of unmanned systems office after investigation The Pentagon wants troops to change duty stations less often
Yomiuri Shimbun
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
At Veterans Affairs, Plan for Sweeping Cuts Tanks Morale
Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post A staff member speaks to Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas A. Collins before Collins testifies May 6 at a Senate hearing. Morale is plummeting inside the Department of Veterans Affairs as tens of thousands of employees prepare for deep staffing cuts, raising alarms among staffers, veterans and advocates who fear the reductions would severely damage care and benefits for millions of the nation's former service members. VA Secretary Douglas A. Collins has signaled plans to shrink the agency's workforce by 15 percent – or about 83,000 employees. Although agency officials insist front-line health-care workers and claims processors will be spared, the vague and shifting details of the Trump administration's downsizing plan have only fueled anxiety and speculation within VA's massive workforce. The uncertainty is already taking a toll. Thousands of employees across VA's health and benefits systems have opted for early retirement in two waves, which would pay them through Sept. 30 to get them to leave, according to internal data reviewed by The Washington Post. Many of these employees said they are opting to leave out of fear that they would be laid off anyway. Many Democrats have already seized on President Donald Trump's VA cuts as damaging to veterans, and some Republicans worry about the political risks of firings and other reductions at the agency. 'The veterans now check in and ask us how we are doing,' one social worker at a hospital in the Great Lakes region told The Post. 'They see the news and are very aware of the circumstances and fearful of losing VA support that they depend on.' A contractor at the VA medical center in Palo Alto, California, described employees as 'fearful, paranoid, demoralized.' 'There's some cracks starting to show,' said an ICU doctor at a Florida facility. This account of turmoil within Veterans Affairs is based on interviews with more than two dozen current and former employees, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations. The Post also reviewed more than two dozen pages of internal agency records and communications. In response to questions from The Post, VA spokesman Peter Kasperowicz pointed to problems in the agency that have existed for years. 'During the Biden Administration, VA failed to address nearly all of its most serious problems, such as benefits backlogs, rising health-care wait times and major issues with survivor benefits,' Kasperowicz said in a statement. 'The far-left Washington Post refused to cover these failures because it would have made the Biden Administration look bad.' Specifically responding to the concerns employees shared about morale, Kasperowicz said The Post is to blame. 'The people you spoke with are probably being misled by The Washington Post's dishonest, far-left fearmongering,' he said. With almost 500,000 employees, VA is the second-largest federal agency behind the Department of Defense and is in charge of providing health care to more than 9 million veterans through 170 VA medical centers and 1,193 outpatient clinics. In recent years, VA's budget and workforce have grown significantly – in part to accommodate the PACT Act, which caused disability claims and enrollment in the health-care system to surge. Many people involved in planning the reductions have been required to sign nondisclosure agreements, leaving details about the looming cutbacks unclear. Some familiar with the plans said initial cuts will target the agency's central office, steps from the White House, where 19,000 people work administering the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration and the National Cemetery System. But that would still leave tens of thousands of jobs at hospitals and clinics under threat of future cuts. Collins – under pressure from his workforce, Congress and veterans groups – has attempted to quell concerns by saying that he's seeking alternative cost-cutting measures in addition to layoffs and might not need to reach the initial proposal of 15 percent. VA leaders have initially homed in on combining what they consider duplicative offices to cut jobs, according to the people familiar with the plans. For instance, they are considering merging suicide prevention and homelessness programs with a mental health office to reduce the number of full-time employees supporting separate programs, according to an internal document obtained by The Post that shows preliminary proposals. Another proposal would combine a program for LGBTQ+ veterans with the Office of Health Equity, which identifies health-care disparities, and the Office of Whole Health, which organizes wellness programs. Kasperowicz said 'no decisions have been made with respect to staff reductions.' On Friday, a federal judge extended a pause on mass layoffs in 22 federal agencies, including VA, in a lawsuit against the administration's cuts filed by a federal workers' union. The pause could be short-lived, however, as the Trump administration has appealed to the Supreme Court. Collins, a former Georgia congressman and an Iraq War veteran, has argued that VA has grown too bloated and must be streamlined. But veterans' groups and bipartisan lawmakers warn that rapid downsizing, particularly without a clear strategy, could harm veterans who depend on the agency for medical care, mental health support and disability benefits. Veterans' groups have also warned that staff cuts would disproportionately affect veterans, who make up about a quarter of VA's workforce. Several groups, including a union organization, are organizing a rally on the National Mall on June 6 – the 81st anniversary of D-Day – in hopes of drawing thousands of protesters against the anticipated cuts. 'Iraq felt safer than being a VA employee currently does,' a veteran and VA communications worker privately told Hill staffers in a written submission shared with The Post. 'My leadership in Iraq cared about me as a human and didn't just see me as a number.' Some Republicans expressed apprehension about the cutback numbers Collins shared when he testified in recent weeks before the Senate and House committees overseeing his agency. 'There's understandable concern among veterans and VA staff,' Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) said at a May 6 hearing with Collins. 'We need to be strategic, not simply hit a number.' Lawmakers pressed Collins on the cuts, but he said he would not share preliminary details publicly. He suggested to senators what the agency could do without, such as the small number of staff who design medical spaces, and that he aimed to reassign doctors and nurses who do administrative work rather than care for patients. One psychiatrist told The Post that a significant portion of their time is spent coordinating care, reviewing safety issues and advising other clinicians – work that often goes unnoticed but is crucial to quality treatment. 'Doctor administration work is important and not replaceable by AI,' the provider said in response to concerns that this administration has encouraged the use of artificial intelligence to replace work done by humans. During the House hearing on May 15, Collins and Rep. Mark Takano (D-California) sparred after the Democrat displayed an internal spreadsheet with calculated savings from a 15 percent reduction in every VA job classification, such as a proposal to eliminate 4,000 nurses estimated to save $1 billion. 'This is a leaked predecisional document that is not helpful,' Collins said, disavowing the document. 'I have made clear, we will not be cutting front-line health care.' The pressure on VA comes at a pivotal moment, as the department continues to implement the PACT Act, landmark legislation expanding benefits for veterans exposed to toxins such as burn pits. That law triggered a surge in disability claims – but also prompted the agency to hit new milestones in claims processing speed. As Collins moves ahead with his reorganization, staff shortages, growing workloads and a demanding return-to-office policy are already straining the system. Employees hired before the pandemic with telework agreements had not expected to return to the office because their work agreements came before the public health crisis. Several have since decided to leave their jobs because they said their relocations would be untenable. At a program that helps find housing and jobs for veterans in need in Palo Alto, one staffer has decided to leave because of the return-to-office policy, while another contractor is being eliminated as part of sweeping contract cuts across the agency, one employee said. 'I keep hearing like, 'Oh, the cuts won't affect patient care,' but it absolutely will,' the employee said. 'You can't function without support staff.' At multiple facilities, employees say tight quarters caused by the department's return-to-office policy have made it harder to provide confidential care. Mental health specialists report that they now overhear colleagues' therapy sessions with veterans, and one office has plans to purchase noise-canceling headphones to restore some privacy. An internal VA presentation from March projected a deficit of 57,000 workstations across the Veterans Health Administration, leaving little room for providers or patients in some locations. At one hospital, a suicide prevention specialist said they had to take phone calls outside because of overloaded WiFi. Despite these accounts, Collins has dismissed reports of overcrowded conditions and denied that employees were working out of closets – a claim that is contradicted by a photo shared with The Post of a makeshift desk set up inside a storage closet. 'We're sardines packed in a can,' the employee who took the photo said. Another employee shared a photo of multiple workstations set up inside a hospital room. Kasperowicz said the return-to-office policy has been rolled out with the limitations of workspaces in mind, adding that more than 60,000 VHA employees have returned to the office starting May 5, while 45,000 have not because of exemptions or extensions. He declined to respond to specific claims without locations or other identifying details, which The Post agreed to keep confidential. 'While most of VA's dedicated employees understand the importance of being on-site, a small but vocal minority are telling tall tales in a desperate attempt to avoid returning to the office at all costs,' he said. The overcrowding has led to a lack of parking at some facilities. At one hospital, employees were told in an email Friday that veterans have missed or been tardy for medical appointments because staff members had parked in the veterans-only parking lots. 'Despite these challenges, staff are expected to report to work on time and leave veterans parking for those who are receiving care and services,' the hospital director told employees.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
VA employees are ‘fearful, paranoid, demoralized' as officials share few specifics to axe 83,000 employees
Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs are 'fearful, paranoid, and demoralized' as plans loom to downsize the agency by cutting around 83,000 jobs but details remain vague, according to a report. Proposals to shrink the workforce by 15 percent were first reported in March after a department memo set out an objective to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000. The move would require terminating tens of thousands of employees. VA Secretary Douglas A. Collins was grilled about the proposed cuts by the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs earlier this month, but claimed the 80,000 target was merely a 'goal to look at our restructuring.' Since then, however, morale has been 'plummeting' at the department as staff anxiously wait to hear more about the plans, The Washington Post reports. 'The veterans now check in and ask us how we are doing,' a social worker at a hospital in the Great Lakes region told the newspaper. 'They see the news and are very aware of the circumstances and fearful of losing VA support that they depend on.' Another contractor at a VA medical center in Palo Alto, California, said employees are currently 'fearful, paranoid, demoralized.' One veteran staffer said in a written submission seen by the outlet that 'Iraq felt safer than being a VA employee currently does.' Around a quarter of employees at the VA are veterans. 'My leadership in Iraq cared about me as a human and didn't just see me as a number,' the VA communications worker said. Doctors, nurses and claims processors would not be targeted in the cuts, VA spokesperson Peter Kasperowicz told The Independent, but said the department would 'reduce administrators, advisors, and middle manager posts to eliminate duplicative, unnecessary layers of management and bureaucracy.' Thousands of jobs at hospitals and clinics would still be under threat from future cuts, according to The Post, which Kasperowicz said was 'inaccurate' because 'no decisions have been made with respect to staff reductions.' Kasperowicz also sought to lay the blame at the door of the previous administration. 'During the Biden Administration, VA failed to address nearly all of its most serious problems, such as benefits backlogs, rising health-care wait times and major issues with survivor benefits,' Kasperowicz said in a statement to The Independent. Kasperowicz disputed claims of low morale and accused the The Post and 'other biased media outlets' of writing 'dishonest hit pieces' about the Trump administration's efforts to 'fix' the VA. Veterans groups are rallying against the cuts in the coming weeks. The Unite For Veterans rally is slated for June 6, the D-Day anniversary, at Washington, D.C.'s National Mall to 'defend the benefits, jobs, healthcare and essential VA services under attack.' The progressive VoteVets group spoke out about the cuts on Memorial Day. 'Gutting VA will result in delayed appointments and substandard care, leading directly to more veteran deaths,' Kayla Williams, Iraq Veteran and senior policy advisor at VoteVets, said. 'In fact, as reports and internal documents now prove, Elon Musk's wrecking ball is causing systems to fail, putting veterans at risk.' Kasperowicz added that the department has 'already made significant progress' in 'fulfilling VA's mission of serving Veterans' by reducing the department's disability claims backlog by 25 percent since Trump entered office, ending DEI at the department, and processing 'record numbers of disability claims' for the fiscal year 2025.
WIRED
30-04-2025
- Business
- WIRED
What Are the Best Coffee Beans for Cold Brew?
Cold brew demands different beans than drip or espresso to come out right. Here's a guide to finding the right ones. Photograph: Matthew Korfhage; Getty Images All products featured on Wired are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. Cold-brew coffee is the gentlest of coffee: pleasant and sweet, made for warm days and chill thoughts. And so the best coffee beans for cold brew are not necessarily the same ones that make the most interesting drip or pour-over or espresso. It's a different animal entirely from the volatile intensity of hot brew. Rather, it's extracted gently over 12 or 24 hours to release the bean's natural sweetness. I have my own thoughts, of course. I've tested more than a dozen cold-brew coffee makers in the past year for WIRED's guide to the best cold-brew coffee makers. But few have wrestled with this question more intensely than Maciej Kasperowicz, director of coffee at Trade Coffee, one of WIRED's favorite coffee subscription companies. With his team, Kasperowicz spent months putting together 90 coffees best suited for cold brew, to be included in Trade's new cold-brew coffee subscription. Meanwhile, Brent Wolczynski, director of product development and cold brew at Portland's Stumptown Coffee, has built one of the most distinguished café and packaged cold-brew programs in the country. We consulted Kasperowicz and Wolczynski to ask about which beans make for great cold-brew coffee, which ones don't, how you know, and the myths surrounding what makes for a good cold-brew cup. What Is Cold Brew, and What Isn't It? First off, when I'm referring to cold brew, I don't necessarily mean all cold coffee. Cold brew is a process: the act of gently extracting coffee at room temperature or lower, over the course of hours instead of minutes. Most 'instant' cold-brew makers are actually making something called iced coffee: hot coffee that's quickly chilled to avoid the bad flavors that come from letting coffee cool slowly. It's good but different, and it leads to different results: more aromatics but less smoothness and sweetness. On a traditional cold-brew maker, the process is remarkably simple: Grind beans coarsely, put them in water, leave the mixture out on the counter or in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours, and wait. To make cold-brew concentrate that can then be diluted with water or milk, roll with a ratio of 4 or 5 to 1 by weight. (Ideally, use a kitchen or coffee scale. But 4 ounces of coffee to each pint of water will do.) My favorite home cold-brew coffee maker, combining ease and convenience with excellent extraction and flavor, is the Oxo Compact cold-brew maker. For larger batches, use what restaurants and cafés use: a big ol' Toddy cold-brew maker ($49). For even more ease and ready-to-drink cold brew at lower concentration, you can try a basket-style brewer like the Hario Mizudashi ($18). Which Beans Make the Best Cold Brew? Cold brew is a process of extracting flavor over a long time, at low intensity, and so the results differ from hot brew. Gentle extraction means less volatility, less bitterness, and a focus on sweetness and fullness and big, round flavors. Here's the best advice from Kasperowicz and Wolczynski on the best coffee beans for the best cold-brew coffee. Medium-roast beans have the best balance: The Goldilocks roast level for cold brew is generally a medium-roast level, Kasperowicz says, and that's where you'll find the majority of the coffee bags among Trade's cold-brew collection. While light roasts offer bright flavors loved in craft coffee, they'll extract a little slower and less easily than a medium roast. 'Darker roasts are slightly more soluble, is the theory,' Kasperowicz says, 'and so it'll be a little easier for medium and darker roasts.' That said, lighter and medium roasts get more interesting aromatics, so it's a balancing game. 'A nicely developed medium roast is the sweet spot for cold brew,' Wolczynski agreed. Neither argues for very dark roasts in cold brew, with Wolczynski in particular saying dark roasts tend to 'fall flat.' Photograph: Matthew Korfhage But lighter roasts can surprise you: 'I've definitely had cold brew with high floral notes and fruit-forward acidity in African coffees that I've absolutely loved,' Wolczynski says. 'If you want floral notes and sparkling acidity, Ethiopia Mordecofe ($23) is an African coffee that I'd highly recommend for cold brew … It will be a quenching, juicy cup and best enjoyed black." One of the reasons I consulted Wolczynski about cold brew was, in fact, an occasional Stumptown Ethiopian Guji cold brew he first made long ago, which has topped many taste tests over the years. Medium or darker for milk drinkers. Light roast only if you like it black: This is just a rule of thumb, but light roasts will be pretty subtle in cold-brew form, and you'll lose them to a blast of milk. Fuller-flavored medium-roast cold brew will be able to hold up better. 'If you like a cup that stands up to milk, I'd go with a medium roast from Latin America,' Wolczynski says. 'If you drink it black and prefer a brighter, more fruit-forward cup, lighter-roasted African coffees are great.' Candy-bar flavors do really well in cold brews: 'I think the cold-brew method is particularly good at highlighting sweetness, and high-quality medium-roast coffees tend to lend themselves to tasting notes like chocolate, caramel, etc.,' according to Wolczynski. 'Those are also just super well-rounded profiles that can be enjoyed straight or with milk.' Kasperowicz says much the same. Cold brew doesn't always capture delicate aromatics, he says, but can really accentuate big and bold flavors like chocolate and caramel and nuts that are familiar from candy bars. 'Coffees that just inherently have those flavors of chocolate—big kind of round bodies, big smooth flavors, lots of sweetness—those kinds of coffees with more kinds of caramelized flavors tend to do better.' Look on the bag of beans, he says, or the description on the roaster's website, for the flavor descriptions of the coffee. Origins can also be a clue to finding these flavors. As a rule of thumb, Latin American coffees tend more toward chocolate, especially, so if you see 'Brazil' on the bag it's a good sign. Kasperowicz calls out in particular a Brazilian bag from Atlanta's Portrait called Toni ($38 for 2 pounds)—a great example of a big, full-bodied, nutty, sweet, chocolate roast that does well in cold-brew form. East African roasts tend more often toward fruit and berry notes. Photograph: Matthew Korfhage Balanced blends can offer the best of both worlds: Those big, fruity, bright flavors from single-origin Ethiopian coffees can come out strongly when roasted to medium or paired with chocolatey beans, Kasperowicz says. For Trade's cold-brew program, Kasperowicz selected a Cherry Picker blend ($38 for 2 pounds) of South American and East African beans from Colorado's Boxcar Roasting that tastes like chocolate-covered cherries. A PT's Coffee Roasting Cold Front blend ($38 for 2 pounds) likewise mixes Guatemalan and Ethiopian medium-roast beans to make coffee that tastes like rich, smooth blackberries and caramel. Stumptown offers a seasonal cold-brew blend, but the company's year-round Homestead ($15) offers a balanced brew as well. Look on coffee bags for the words 'full-bodied' or 'rich': This is a clue to full-flavored cold brew, Kasperowicz says. When coffee roasters describe their coffee as big, full-bodied, or round, this is a sign of a bean that's desperate to give up its secrets and so is more likely to extract fully and richly. Photograph: Matthew Korfhage Think twice before using your most expensive beans: This is more advice for self-preservation. Cold brew requires more coffee beans per cup than drip or pour-over or espresso. Quite simply, you need a lot of course-ground coffee to make a serving size. Depending on how strong you make your cold brew, it may take about 50 percent more than you use for drip coffee. But cold brew is less likely to bring out the delicacy and complexity of that high-altitude, single-origin roast, says Kasperowicz. The resulting cold brew won't be bad. It might be terrific! But you'll get less out of those expensive beans than if you brew them hot. So if you value your pocketbook, look toward blends that have the big flavors that'll come through on a megaphone. Fresh beans are still and always best: A weird myth going around is that old or stale beans are good for cold brew—perhaps because cold brew might be a little more forgiving of stale beans than hot brew. But fresh beans are best, Kasperowicz says without hesitation. Even though cold brew oxidizes more slowly, because it's cold, it does still take on those stale, cardboardy, sad flavors that come from exposure to oxygen. If you use stale beans, you'll get those flavors faster, and your cold brew will keep for less time in the fridge. How about high altitudes? Are high-altitude beans better for cold brew? Despite claims by some companies, neither Kasperowicz nor Wolczynski think beans grown at high altitude have much to say about what's good for cold brew. Altitude is a sign of quality in general, or of more subtle flavors. But subtlety is not what cold brew is best at accentuating. What about the best beans for iced coffee? Use whatever coffee you like for drip or espresso, pour it over ice, chill it fast, and you're there. No new considerations needed, Kasperowicz says. Wolczynski notes that iced coffee has a 'tannic' structure that will let it hold up well against milk and ice but finds cold brew more 'quenching when drunk black.'
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
VA plans to cut hundreds of payroll jobs at regional medical sites
Veterans Affairs leaders plan to cut hundreds of payroll workers in coming months as part of efforts to downsize the department's workforce and increase efficiency in agency operations. The moves, outlined in an internal memo signed by VA Secretary Doug Collins earlier this month, would shutter payroll offices at nearly 50 VA medical centers spread throughout the country, which employ around 600 staffers. Their workload would instead be handled by the department's Financial Services Center, centralizing finances for all department workers. Officials estimate the move will save the Veterans Health Administration about $13 million annually. 'Centralizing these payroll services will reduce administrative overhead, duplication errors, back pay settlements, fraud, and increase efficiencies,' Acting Chief Financial Officer Edward Murray wrote in the memo. But it will also eliminate jobs for about 300 federal workers and force the relocation of 300 other positions. In a statement, VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said the department has yet to finalize details about which employees will be given opportunities to move or accept other department jobs. VA secretary insists massive staff cuts needed to refocus department 'Despite the fact that VA has a proven payroll system that processes paychecks for more than 200,000 VA employees, some 50 VA medical centers still maintain their own payroll support staff,' Kasperowicz said. 'By consolidating payroll and payroll support for all employees under VA's Financial Services Center, VA will save money, time and resources. 'This is exactly the kind of commonsense reform that should have been done years ago but is only happening now under President Trump and Secretary Collins.' Collins has already set a public goal of trimming at least 15% — about 72,000 staffers — from the VA workforce in coming years as part of an effort to reduce waste and inefficiencies within the department. In his memo, Murray also outlined plans to consolidate Veterans Family Member Program payouts into the new centralized payroll operations, producing another $31 million in savings annually. Officials said they are confident that after restructuring, the new office will be able to handle the increased workload without any disruptions to employee paychecks or family member benefits. In late March, problems with VA's payroll software caused delays in overtime and specialty pays for about 10,000 workers. Lawmakers said the issues raised concerns about department systems and staffing levels, but VA leaders dismissed the problems as a one-time glitch. Democratic lawmakers have been fiercely opposed to plans for large-scale employee cuts at the department, saying the moves are likely to hurt medical care and benefits delivery for veterans. Collins has pushed back on those accusations and promised a careful review of potential impacts before the workforce reductions. Kasperowicz said an implementation plan for the payroll staffing overhaul is still being developed.
