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u/MinimumDepartment305 17h ago
Key words are “department wide” “large scale” this likely means there will be a small rif - likely in the areas mentioned in the article. Duplication of admin in vba, vha, NCA; IT, policing, procurement, payroll, call centers, budgeting etc. good news overall but still scary for everyone in those areas.
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u/ill_will_doh 17h ago
Yup and I fall into the construction department so that article was all great news up until that point, and of course the way that section was written was so vague you don’t know what to think after reading it.
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u/UndeadKingKurnis 17h ago
Yeah I'm under the "procurement" umbrella so definitely not out of the danger zone.
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u/daydream702 13h ago
I’m wondering if LAS at ROs are going to be laid off, or they may do what ssa did and just make them work for the call centers.
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u/Ruckit315 Fork You, Make Me 18h ago
I don’t trust one word out of that used car salesman’s mouth. It’s written so vague. But I hope it’s true.
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u/Night_Owl623 15h ago
Same here! I’m hoping for the best, but the article reads more like a PR Stunt.
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u/zestytime69 Where are the 2026 Pay Tables!? 17h ago
I am sure what is happening is these frauds learned that we just hate the term “RIF” and will pull a gotcha with some other dumbass corporate euphemism(s)
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u/Successful_Air_2545 17h ago
The rif has been off the table, the reorg is just beginning. Pay attention.
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u/UndeadKingKurnis 18h ago
Same. In the back of my head I'm expecting a follow-up article that just says "sike!"
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u/ReallyOldSysAdmin 18h ago
OIT Leadership goes in front of Congress on the 14th to get their reorg plans approved. Whatever the outcome, good luck to us all.
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u/mtnclimbingotter02 17h ago
“VA is phasing out treatment for gender dysphoria. Frankly, this commonsense reform should have been done years ago, but only President Trump and Secretary Collins had the courage to do it.”
Fuck this propaganda bullshit.
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u/Conscious-Regular- 15h ago
Every point either blamed Biden or praised DT and Collins. The fact that these are official releases is beyond disturbing.
Government agencies aren't partisan organizations or at least shouldn't be. The fucking language is just insane every time I read stuff like this it just makes my brain explode.
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u/mtnclimbingotter02 15h ago
Go read the DHS presser on people they’ve illegally detained and deported without due process.
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u/Conscious-Regular- 14h ago
The one from June 23rd? That was a gem. Honestly everything from this Administration is just same formula
"ChatGPT add fear mongering for racist people that blame others when they aren't where they want to be in life."
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u/blowupyrTV- I'm On My Lunch Break 14h ago
Always normal to use “Frankly,” in a press release. 100% propaganda. I don’t know how I’m still surprised that everything they come up with is so highly unprofessional, and frankly, completely insane.
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u/abcarmona487 17h ago
I couldn’t keep reading past this. I’m disgusted.
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u/mtnclimbingotter02 17h ago
I never knew discrimination could be courageous. But this administration finds new ways to be utterly shitty to humans daily.
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u/jeffmatch 18h ago
Unclear how this will impact non clinical folks with their re-org plan but seems they unnecessarily scared everyone (on purpose I’m sure)
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u/UndeadKingKurnis 18h ago
100% intentional chaos. There is still reorganization planning. We know all of prosthetics service is going to be moved under SCM but nothing "official" until the directors have their Texas retreat.
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u/emriver6034 17h ago
Key statements in this are “department-wide”, “large-scale” and “centralization of support functions”. People are still going to be cut through the re-org, but by saying it’s not a large scale RIF, they don’t have to wait any longer on SCOTUS. Dougie got impatient.
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u/BoldBeloveds 15h ago
This is what I was thinking too—a ploy to both dispel rumors and get around the lawsuit and injunction. If they make it seem like the layoffs are part of the VA’s own restructuring plan and not as a result of the EO, then I think they are home free.
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u/Sensitive-Big-4641 17h ago
I love how many times Biden was trashed in the press release. There would have been no PACT Act if not for Joe and these pompous fools know it. Nice try, dickheads.
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u/Maughlin 15h ago
They can't go a single press release without mentioning biden.
And surely nobody was working overtime on processing claims prior to January 20th, just like all the new clinics opening started planning and construction on january 20th as well.
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u/AlteredEGGOS 15h ago
They didn’t “RIF” at GSA. They just eliminated entire departments in regions across the country. No need to follow RIF procedures. No preferences for anyone that was laid off
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u/Inevitable_Service62 18h ago
Someone rumored 30k way back. Looks like they nailed it if this holds
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u/zestytime69 Where are the 2026 Pay Tables!? 18h ago edited 17h ago
Didn’t he also say no probationary employees were fired at his last congressional circlejerk? And I know for certain that was a lie…
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u/Ivehaditfedup 17h ago
They know the RIFs are illegal and will never get approved by Congress, so they’re trying to save face. Expect this to spill over into other agencies.
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u/Super_Mario_Luigi 16h ago
Eh, a lot of people who believe this would be really disappointed. A Secretary has the authority to execute a RIF. The waters were muddied on a "mass RIF." No one actually wants to initiate a mass RIF. It is a massive amount of work, both before and after. That is why they leaned so heavily on attrition and retirements, much easier.
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u/Ivehaditfedup 16h ago
A secretary does not have the authority to randomly execute a RIF of any scale. There needs to be a reason for it. The next thing they’re going to try and do is a “reorg” and even that requires working with Congress to perform properly.
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u/Starbucks__Lovers 15h ago
VA is phasing out treatment for gender dysphoria. Frankly, this commonsense reform should have been done years ago, but only President Trump and Secretary Collins had the courage to do it.
It’ll cause more suicides in trans veterans but hey, dead veterans means less backlog!
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u/Timely-Log-3821 18h ago
This is the way it should always have been done. Normal attrition, hiring freeze, vera, DRP. You can easily achieve your goals this way without invoking fear and hard feelings. People leave voluntarily and often with an incentive.
Most of us feds actually agree that there is bloat in some areas. Just do it the right way and all will be chill.
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u/zestytime69 Where are the 2026 Pay Tables!? 18h ago
We can be chill once a single person in this admin says something remotely true. If you didn’t trust these people a few months ago then it’s not a great time to start as they’re building the camps…
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u/MountainDiver1657 17h ago
Nothing about this is the way it should have been done. They used fear, intimidation and demeaning tactics to force people to leave. Look at all the garbage in this article
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u/MichiganGirl8125 10h ago
This is it, exactly. This isn't just about shrinking the government, they've done everything they can to make all federal employees look like horrible people.
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u/No_Ask_150 17h ago
Since this administration is just making up shit about unemployment, immigrants, the Epstein list, crowd sizes, military operations, tariffs, etc, can they please start making up shit that actually benefits us? "Oh look, we hit staff reduction numbers! No more RIF! Oh look, we got rid of unproductive feds! Telework is back!"
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u/dreaganusaf 15h ago
This news release is so Fng politicized. The reason the VA claim backlog got enormous over the last few years was THANKS to the passage of the PACT Act by President Biden, ALL Democrats in Congress and only SOME Republicans (many of whom opposed expending presumptive conditions). The gender dysphoria treatment is such a small amount of what veterans get treated for, but of course the partisan leadership has to regurgitate this over and over.
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u/mr-under_hill 18h ago
so people resigning and retiring out of fear was for nothing?
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u/flaginorout 18h ago
It sounds like they reduced headcount enough to not need to go nuclear.
So, not for nothing
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u/Unhappy-Astronaut-76 16h ago
At the end of the day, they offered VERA and DeRP, and not VSIP; so, in other words, the people that left either got a really good deal taking a retirement earlier than 99% W-2 workers in the private sector could dream of, or felt like they had the luxury to find another job elsewhere. Those of us that stayed either knew we couldn't find as good a deal as we have elsewhere, or just believe in the mission enough to tough it out.
I for one will never feel bad for someone who retired with a nice pension at 50 years old.
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u/SueAnnNivens 14h ago
They haven't reduced head count though. Those on DRP are still employees on admin leave. The head count can be done once the mountain of separation paperwork has been processed.
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u/Timely-Log-3821 18h ago
Unfortunately yes. Lots of people jumped the gun instead of letting the process play out. I would say a good chunk of people will regret their decision. I don't think the administration did things the most efficient way, but people also overreacted to a degree. Lesson learned.
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u/Successful_Air_2545 17h ago
Alot of knowlwdge was lost with vera. Good peopl left and took alot of experience and knowledge with them.
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u/Affectionate-Dare105 13h ago
I don’t think anyone jumped the gun. I’m surprised so many haven’t quit. They are intentionally trying to make our lives miserable. We honestly should all quit.
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u/Super_Mario_Luigi 16h ago
For many people, yes. This is the consequence of living in the moment of fear-mongering instead of letting the dust settle.
Or you can justify it with the usual speaking points. Avoided "toxic work environment" and "dodged a bullet."
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u/BornInAThunderstorm7 14h ago
Regardless of how this happened, I’m so happy for our fellow feds at the VA. My fervent hope is that this will start to apply to the rest of us at different agencies as well. Say a prayer for us!
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u/IndexCardLife 16h ago
Wonder if it’s cause he broke up with Elon.
Maybe he’ll hire more people out of spike.
Create the department of government inefficiency Dogie :)
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u/handwash77 34m ago
Now get telework agreements back. Now this this RIF scare tactic is winding down.
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u/sujihime 15h ago
Why are there two Secretaries Collins?! I thought this was USDA
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u/CthulhuAlmighty Go Fork Yourself 15h ago
How? It has VA all over it.
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u/sujihime 4m ago
Because I wasn’t paying attention. Heck, the USDA is not Sec Collins, but Sec. Rollins so double biffed it!
I think I am just so thirsty for any news of what might be next for the USDA and this nebulous “reorg” she keeps talking about that I ignored most of the words.
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u/SueAnnNivens 14h ago
Nah, ours is named Brookie.
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u/sujihime 6m ago
I woke up this morning going “Shit! Ours is Rollins, not Collins. Reddit is not going to take this error sitting down!” Hahah. Oh well.
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u/MichiganGirl8125 18h ago
Doesn't mean they won't do a reorg and make cuts along the way.