{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.gallego.senate.gov/news/press-releases/gallego-calls-on-va-to-stop-cuts-to-385-health-care-jobs-at-phoenix-va/", "Gallego Calls on VA to Stop Cuts to 358 Health Care Jobs at Phoenix VA", "2025-12-16", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "AZ", "Ruben Gallego", "G000574", "www.gallego.senate.gov", "gallego", "https://www.gallego.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Following reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) plans to eliminate as many as 35,000 health care positions nationwide, including 358 at the Phoenix VA, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) called on the VA to cancel the proposed cuts and protect veterans\u2019 access to health care.\n\nREAD MORE: Sen. Gallego calls on Trump administration to cancel VA job cuts (KJZZ)\n\n\u201cAt a time of already critical staffing shortfalls, the elimination of these positions will further delay access to care, harm veterans and their families nationwide, and erode trust in the care they are promised and deserve,\u201d Senator Gallego wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins. \u201cOur veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors deserve the highest standard of care. VA routinely provides that\u2014but only if there are providers and support staff to see them.\u201d\n\nThese cuts are in addition to the 30,000 jobs the VA eliminated this year. Earlier this year, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that VA facilities had more than 4,000 severe staffing shortages\u2014a 50 percent increase from the previous year. According to the report, 94 percent of VA facilities faced severe shortages of medical officers, and 79 percent reported severe nursing shortages.\n\n\u201cAccording to recent reporting, under this plan 358 healthcare openings in Phoenix\u2014including nurses and doctors\u2014will be eliminated,\u201d Senator Gallego continued. \u201cThe VA Phoenix Health Care System is already facing severe occupational staffing shortages in primary care, mental health, radiology, nursing, and health technician professions [\u2026] Due to these staffing shortages, the average wait time for new patients at most Phoenix-area VA facilities was found to be above the standard of 20 days for primary care and mental health appointments.\u201d\n\nSenator Gallego\u2019s letter asks the VA to provide answers on:\n\nHow many and which positions the VA plans to eliminate in Arizona, and whether any current employees will be laid off;\n\nWhich VA regional offices may close as a result of these cuts, and how those decisions were made;\n\nHow the VA will maintain access to high-quality health care amid existing staffing shortages, including access to mental health care and treatment for toxic-exposure\u2013related illnesses and injuries under the PACT Act; and\n\nPlans to reduce appointment wait times despite these cuts.\n\n\u201cEliminating over 30,000 health care roles will stretch an already overburdened VA healthcare workforce, leading to longer wait times and reduced access to care for veterans. Your plan threatens to undermine the VA\u2019s mission and endanger the care that veterans have earned through their service, and I encourage you to reconsider,\u201d Senator Gallego concluded.\n\nRead the full letter HERE.\n\n12/16/25", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.gallego.senate.gov/news/press-releases/gallego-calls-on-va-to-stop-cuts-to-385-health-care-jobs-at-phoenix-va/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3048399705439806, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}