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💻VA cuts $189 million IT budget, fires tech workers

Veterans & Military Affairs
Technology & Innovation

The VA redirected $189 million from its IT budget in July 2025, firing tech workers and freezing new systems that help veterans. Trump also withdrew his VA tech chief nominee after discovering the guy donated to Democrats. Veterans already wait months for benefits using 20-year-old computer systems that crash constantly.

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Why This Matters

Veterans die waiting while IT staff who could fix appointment systems get fired

Suicide hotlines crash and medical scheduling fails as programmers get pink slips.

Bush-era computers still process disability claims because modernization stopped

Veterans wait months for benefits while using 20-year-old systems that belong in museums.

Political loyalty tests determine who fixes life-saving veteran technology

CIO nominee withdrawn for donating to Democrats, leaving critical systems without leadership.

Veterans must protest at every VA medical center this weekend

Only visible public pressure stops the gutting of services that keep former soldiers alive.

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Detailed Content

1

Categorize these impacts of the VA’s July 2025 decision to reallocate $189 million from its fiscal 2026 IT budget—resulting in 1,172 Office of Information and Technology staff departures (12% of IT workforce) and a pause on new system procurements—across Direct Service, Workforce, and System Modernization consequences.

Categorize
Veterans & Military Affairs
2

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs press release on July 7, 2025, how many employees did the VA have on January 1, 2025, and June 1, 2025—a reduction of nearly how many positions, with how many more expected to exit by September 30, 2025? ([news.va.gov](https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-to-reduce-staff-by-nearly-30k-by-end-of-fy2025/?utm_source=chatgpt.com))

Fill in Blanks
Veterans & Military Affairs
3

After redirecting $189 million from its IT budget in July 2025—cutting 1,172 OIT staff (12 percent of its workforce) and pausing procurement of new systems—match each VA technology challenge to its real-world impact on veterans: A. it_cuts B. ehr_delays C. cybersecurity_gaps D. knowledge_drain

Matching
Technology & Innovation
4

Match each VA staffing change or contract decision through mid-2025 to its documented impact on veteran services.

Matching
Veterans & Military Affairs
5

According to the July 7, 2025 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs press release, how many total VA employees were projected to be cut by the end of fiscal year 2025 (Sept. 30, 2025)?

Multiple Choice
Veterans & Military Affairs
6

As of 2025, what percentage of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Information and Technology employees are eligible to retire now, and how many more will become eligible within the next five years?

Multiple Choice
Technology & Innovation
7

What reduction-in-force did the VA originally plan in its March 4, 2025 memo before it shifted to voluntary departures on July 7, 2025?

Multiple Choice
Veterans & Military Affairs
8

Which former U.S. Digital Service official and VA.gov information security lead was fired by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) around Feb. 14, 2025, prompting Senate VA Committee Democrats to warn it left the VA "without adequate information security expertise"?

Multiple Choice
Technology & Innovation
9

According to H. Rept. 118-528 accompanying H.R. 8580 – Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025, how much funding was requested for the VA’s Veterans Electronic Health Record Modernization account in its FY 2025 budget?

Multiple Choice
Technology & Innovation
10

As a veteran advocate, you learn that by the end of fiscal year 2025 the VA is on pace to reduce its total workforce by nearly 30,000 employees—including 1,172 Office of Information and Technology staff—and has already repurposed $89 million of its IT budget with another $100 million slated for redirection (Press Release, VA, July 7 2025; Federal News Network, July 14 2025). How would you build sustained political pressure to ensure digital appointment systems and electronic health record deployments aren’t compromised?

Scenario
Civic Action
11

Why do critics argue that cutting 83,000 VA positions — including roughly 20,000 veteran employees — hits veterans especially hard compared to other federal workforce reductions?

Short Answer
Veterans & Military Affairs
12

Arrange the following events in chronological order to illustrate how expansions under the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 were subsequently rolled back:

Timeline
Veterans & Military Affairs
13

What share of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ workforce is made up of U.S. military veterans?

True/False
Veterans & Military Affairs
14

According to the VA’s FY 2025 budget request submitted in March 2024, did the Office of Information and Technology project its headcount would grow from 8,382 to 8,544 employees?

True/False
Technology & Innovation
15

On July 7, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced staff reductions of nearly 30,000 employees, claiming that “all VA mission-critical positions are exempt from the DRP and VERA, and more than 350,000 positions are exempt from the federal hiring freeze,” ensuring veteran care and benefits would remain unaffected. Is this claim accurate?

True/False
Veterans & Military Affairs
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