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DETROIT NEWS: Dingell Questions Staff Cuts at Detroit, Ann Arbor VA Hospitals

A Michigan congresswoman is pressing the leaders of veterans hospitals in Detroit and Ann Arbor for details about how they've been affected by the Trump administration’s dismissal of more than 1,000 employees across the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, visited both medical centers as part of her annual Valentines for Veterans outreach and said many VA employees she spoke to expressed concern for both for their job security, for their patients' health and the future of ongoing VA research, she wrote in letters to the heads of both VA hospitals.

"Those who confided in me expressed great worry and fear. While they’re concerned about the security of their own jobs, they’re even more concerned about the impact a reduction of staff would have on the veterans they serve," Dingell wrote.

"We should be helping the VA recruit and retain a qualified workforce ― not dismantling it, discouraging it or causing low morale. Equally troubling, there seems to be no clear transition plan on how this announcement will be implemented.”

The agency was hit late last week by President Donald Trump's mass layoffs across the federal workforce, with the department saying it had dismissed 1,000 probationary employees who have served less than a year or two.

The department said 43,000 other employees were exempted because they serve in "mission critical" positions ― such as supporting benefits and services for VA beneficiaries ― or are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. The agency claimed the move will save the department more than $98 million per year.

"This was a tough decision, but ultimately it’s the right call to better support the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors the department exists to serve,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement. 

“To be perfectly clear: These moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries."

A union official said one to five employees were dismissed at the Detroit VA and seven from Ann Arbor. The total employee loss at each facility is likely greater when factoring in the offer extended to all federal employees in recent weeks to take a buyout ― eight months of pay if they resign their positions. The total number of federal workers in Michigan who accepted that offer is unclear.

Everett Kelley, president of the largest federal employee union — the American Federation of Government Employees — in a statement vowed to fight the dismissals, calling them a "politically driven mass firing spree, targeting employees not because of performance, but because they were hired before Trump took office."

"Agencies have spent years recruiting and developing the next generation of public servants," Kelley said. "By firing them en masse, this administration is throwing away the very talent that agencies need to function effectively in the years ahead."

Dingell said employees she spoke to at the Detroit and Ann Arbor VA facilities were "deeply alarmed" by the impacts of the administration's dismissals and hiring freeze is having on VA research, resulting in terminations of VA researchers across the agency.

“Not only will this significantly curtail our understanding of how to treat mental health and substance abuse, illnesses relating to toxic exposure, and other afflictions veterans face higher risks of developing, but also stunt our progress on prosthetics and other innovative devices and technologies," she wrote.

"Supporting the men and women who have served our nation should be a number one priority, and the quiet fears I heard today are deeply disturbing. This decision will have far-reaching consequences that harm veteran services and benefits and negatively impact critical research."

Andrew Lennox, a 10-year Marine veteran, was part of a new supervisor training program at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Ann Arbor. He told The Associated Press that he received an email “out of the blue” Thursday evening informing him that he was being terminated.

“In order to help veterans, you just fired a veteran,” said Lennox, 35, a former USMC infantryman who was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

Lennox had been working as an administrative officer at the VA since mid-December and said he “would love nothing more” than to keep working.

“This is my family, and I would like to do this forever,” he said.

The employee cuts come as the Department of Veterans Affairs plans to resume rollouts of its troubled new electronic health record system in mid-2026 at four Michigan sites: Ann Arbor, Detroit, Battle Creek and Saginaw, requiring extensive training of employees.

The software since its launch had been blamed for patient safety risks, productivity loss, delays in care and issues with medication management.

The John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Midtown Detroit, named for Dingell's late husband, also recently came through a rocky period after the findings of senior leadership misconduct. The new director prioritized boosting the depleted staff ranks at the 106-bed hospital as part of an effort to reduce veterans' wait times for appointments and overall improve customer service.

Dingell asked the VA leaders in Detroit and Ann Arbor to report how many employees and managers at each facility had been dismissed or taken a buyout offer, and whether any research projects had been halted or canceled due to the recent directives.

She also asked about plans to replace management positions or ensure their job responsibilities are being distributed to others. Dingell also asked about the rollout of the new electronic health records system and whether its rollout would require additional staff.