Duckworth & Durbin: Federal Hiring Freeze Threatens to Harm Veterans & the American People
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today urged President Trump to rethink his misguided federal hiring freeze which, in addition to making the entire federal government less efficient and less able to assist Americans, will hit Veterans particularly hard. The newly-implemented hiring freeze could increase wait times at agencies like Social Security Administration, and reduce government oversight by limiting staffing at Offices of Inspector Generals. It will also have a catastrophic effect on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which needs to hire critical staff to reduce patient wait times and the VA backlog, and could significantly delay Veteran care-breaking a campaign promise the President made regularly to improve Veteran care.
"A hiring freeze at the VA will delay Veterans' access to health care and resolution of their disability claims, which for many of our nation's heroes provides a sole source of income to them and their families," Duckworth and her fellow Members of Congress wrote. "Our nation's veterans should not be made to sacrifice any more than they already have while you review federal hiring."
For years, the VA has faced a personnel shortage, especially in rural areas, and the agency currently has more than 45,000 job openings and more than 450,000 Veterans are currently waiting to receive the benefits they earned while serving in our armed services.Duckworth called on the President to reconsider his hiring freeze in a letter led by the Ranking Members of the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees, Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and Representative Tim Walz (D-MN). The letter, which was co-signed by 51 other Members of Congress, also outlined how a federal hiring freeze will hurt Veterans transitioning back to civilian life who are seeking federal jobs and called on Trump to exempt all veterans seeking employment from his hiring freeze, underscoring that veterans make up 31 percent of the federal workforce.
"An across-the-board freeze will hurt these veterans - many of whom are transitioning from military to civilian service, and many of whom are disabled. The negative impacts of this freeze will be felt across the country and disproportionately affect those men and women who have honorably served in our military," the group added.
Acting VA Director Robert Snyder this week said the VA will continue to hire front-line caregivers despite the President's executive order, but Senator Duckworth and the other members believe the entire VA exempt from the hiring freeze, including support staff, schedulers, IT specialists, and payment processers, in order to reduce the VA backlog and wait times as quickly as possible.
The full letter can be viewed below:
Dear President Trump:
We are deeply troubled that your freeze on the hiring of federal civilian employees will have a negative and disproportionate impact on our nation's veterans. As such, we urge you to take stock of this hiring freeze's effect on our nation's veterans and exempt the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as well as any veterans seeking federal employment from your Memorandum Regarding the Hiring Freeze.
While there can be no debate that the federal government, including VA, should be more efficient in its delivery of services to all Americans, a hiring freeze at VA will delay veterans' access to health care and resolution of their disability claims, which for many of our nation's heroes provides a sole source of income to them and their families. Our nation's veterans should not be made to sacrifice any more than they already have while you review federal hiring.
Have you considered how this hiring freeze will affect VA's ability to provide veterans with access to health care? For years, VA has faced chronic medical personnel shortages, particularly in rural areas. As a result of the hiring freeze, the Department's inability to hire clinicians and the administrative support teams to schedule appointments will have a direct impact on the number of veterans on waiting lists at facilities across the country. Further, this will have an impact on community providers, who will be forced to continue waiting for delayed payments without VA having the ability to hire employees to process payments on their claims. We urge you to re-evaluate this hiring freeze and take into account veterans who will face increased delay in accessing health care.
Have you considered how this hiring freeze will affect VA's ability to provide veterans with decisions on their appeals for disability compensation? More than 450,000 appeals are pending - that means that more than 450,000 veterans are waiting for the U.S. government to provide them with benefits earned while a disability was incurred while serving in our armed services. Our nation's veterans cannot afford an unnecessary wait to receive the benefits they have earned serving our country. We urge you to re-evaluate this hiring freeze and take into account the effect it will have on veterans who will have to wait longer for earned benefits -- whether it's disability, survivor or education benefits, or whether it's vocational rehabilitation or job training services.
Have you considered how this hiring freeze will impact those veterans who apply to federal jobs? Veterans comprise 31 percent of the federal workforce and most receive a well-earned hiring preference when they apply for federal jobs. An across-the-board freeze will hurt these veterans - many of whom are transitioning from military to civilian service, and many of whom are disabled. The negative impacts of this freeze will be felt across the country and disproportionately affect those men and women who have honorably served in our military.
Should you move forward with this hiring freeze, one issue that must not be overlooked is VA's little-known mission of providing support to national efforts to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and man-made catastrophes. We urge you to classify VA's delivery of health care as a national security and public safety responsibility, as outlined in your Presidential Memorandum Regarding Hiring Freeze, and exempt it from this hiring freeze. To do otherwise is to jeopardize the national security and public safety of our nation.
Mr. President, this hiring freeze will have a dramatic impact on the quality of health care and benefits veterans receive. We urge you to reconsider.
Co-signers:
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)
Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.)
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.)
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)
Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.)
Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.)
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.)
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA.)
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.)
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.)
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.)
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)
Rep. Mark Takano (CA-41)
Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26)
Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (NH-2)
Rep. Beto O'Rourke (TX-16)
Rep. Kathleen M. Rice (NY-4)
Rep. J. Luis Correa (CA-46)
Next Article Previous Article
