More than 300,000 Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Jobs are exempt from federal hiring from the White House, according to a department memo sent this week.
Still, it remains unclear how the hiring freeze and waivers will affect the Hampton VA Medical Center, which last year was the subject of both congressional and federal watchdog investigations that highlighted a series of failures there and led to top leadership changes.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump issued an executive order implementing a federal hiring push. The freeze banned any federal civilian positions that were vacant before noon on Monday and created new positions, with some exemptions for positions involving armed forces service members, immigration enforcement, national security and public safety.
Acting VA Secretary Todd Hunter’s Thursday memo lists more than 35 types of positions exempt from hiring, including medical officers, nurses, therapists and physician assistants, and allows employees to start work on or before Feb. 8 to continue with hiring and onboarding. Hunter said these include positions deemed critical to delivering care to veterans in the Veterans Health Administration.
The Hampton VA Medical Center did not return calls for comment. A regional VA spokesperson did not ask questions about the local impact.
Democrats have raised concerns about the impact the hiring freeze would have on people who rely on federal government services.
Rep. Bobby Scott joined a team of Virginia Democrats – led by Rep. Jennifer McClellan — who urged Trump to review or rescind his hiring expansion on federal civilian workers and said the freeze had already hit hiring efforts in the state.
“The Richmond VA Medical Center was forced to rescind vacancies for critical positions and temporarily suspend local partnerships that allow medical students to spend a portion of their residency and clinical training at the facility in response to this mandate,” the lawmakers wrote. “The freeze prevents the new Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center – soon to be the largest VA health facility in the nation – from opening fully staffed and operational as planned on February 28.”
They said “similar disruptions to hiring and important community-based programs” were felt at the Hampton VA Medical Center and Salem VA Medical Center.
But Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, who led last year’s congressional investigation into issues at the Hampton VA Medical Center, said in a statement that the hiring freeze “gives us the opportunity to accurately assess the employment needs of the Department of Veterans Affairs , our very own Hampton VA to a higher standard and ensure our veterans receive the quality care they deserve.”
Kiggans chairs the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, which launched an investigation into the delivery of care at the Medical Center. The investigation led to the replacement of the center’s director, chief of staff and surgical staff, as well as action to address anesthesiologist shortages, staff morale and allegations of retaliation.
Kiggans did not answer questions about whether those staffing issues have all been addressed and referred questions to the Hampton VA Medical Center. But she noted that the latest federal guidance “clarifies that hiring essential positions that are critical to providing patient care to veterans.”
A report last year from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also identified problems at the Medical Center related to surgical services and how leadership there related to quality management concerns. In July, VA officials said the department was taking the allegations of oversight and misconduct “seriously” and that the VA planned to implement all recommendations by December. The inspector general’s report includes 12 recommendations, but only three of them are currently marked as completed.
Hunter’s memo indicates that there are also positions critical to veterans’ benefits that could be exempt, although requests must be made to the Office of Personnel Management.
Despite the stated exemptions, Rep. Bobby Scott, a Democrat, said the freeze could create additional hurdles for VA hospitals. Aides with his office expressed concern that the freeze could prevent hospitals from hiring support staff.
“The implementation of the federal hiring freeze has further stressed VA hospitals, many of which were already struggling to fulfill their commitments to veterans,” Scott said in a statement. “We have been working to improve services at the Hampton VA for years, but this executive order raises more questions and adds further confusion.”
Josh Janney, joshua.janney@virginiamedia.com