GOP lawmaker calls for VA to ‘guarantee’ only underperformers are targeted in workforce layoffs

Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., sent a letter to the VA secretary Tuesday calling for the agency to ensure it isn't removing high-performing but probationary personnel in its sweeping workforce layoffs. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

A leading House Republican on the panel that oversees the Department of Veterans Affairs is calling for the VA secretary to reconsider job cuts across the agency, cautioning in a Tuesday letter that departmentwide layoffs are pushing out qualified veterans. 

The missive from Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich. — the chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization — comes following layoffs of roughly 2,400 total probationary employees across the department since February. VA said the majority of these personnel were in “non-mission critical” roles. 

In his letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, Barrett said he supported ongoing efforts to streamline VA’s operations and healthcare delivery services, but added that ...