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Most nurses, doctors and other staff caring for military veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs are not eligible for the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer, according to an email sent Friday by VA leadership to staff.
Nurses had been among those who received the original offer, but their unions had discouraged them from accepting, saying an exodus would directly and immediately affect the care of its 9.1 million enrolled veterans.
The new email, which was reviewed by The Associated Press, included an attached letter from VA’s human resources department and a spreadsheet with a list of more than 130 occupations labeled “VA EXEMPTION REQUESTS.”
“It seems like it’s almost everyone,” said Mary-Jean Burke, a physical therapist and American Federation of Government Employees leader. “We are trying to figure out who is eligible.”
The occupations the VA deemed ineligible for the offer range from laundry workers and cooks to nurses, pharmacists and physicians. Those eligible, according to the VA’s letter, include full-time probationary employees and possibly some employees who were going to retire in 2025.
“People are frightened (and) mildly stressed about the unusualness of it all,” Burke said.
A VA spokesperson said the agency worked closely with the White House and the Office of Personnel Management to identify the occupations that aren’t eligible for resignation program. “Exempting these occupations from the program will ensure VA continues providing mission-critical health care, benefits and memorial services to our nation’s veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors,” the spokesperson said.
On Thursday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the deferred resignation program, which was orchestrated by Trump adviser Elon Musk. The judge ordered the Republican administration to extend the deadline until Monday.
Nurses for the VA — the federal government’s largest employer — comprise the biggest single group of federal workers, numbering more than 100,000 and accounting for 5% of all full-time permanent employees, according to an Associated Press analysis of personnel data.
