This story includes mentions of suicidal ideation. If you are having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, contact 911 or the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. Veterans calling 988 should press “1” to reach the Veterans Crisis Line
The Department of Veterans Affairs exempted many of its frontline employees from a governmentwide hiring freeze, the Office of Personnel Management’s “deferred resignation offer,” and more recently, a widespread firing of probationary hires across the federal government.
Multiple VA employees, however, who requested anonymity to avoid retaliation, told Federal News Network that some of the department’s essential functions — such as health care and a hotline for veterans in crisis — are still being impacted, despite these exemptions.
A health care professional told Federal News Network that he’s been waiting for a final job offer for a position that the VA exempted from the hiring freeze, but was told “HR is unable to access the forms” to complete the onboarding.
“It’s affected individuals that are exempt and in the last part of being hired,” he said.
The VA uses USA Staffing, a talent acquisition system created by OPM, to onboard new hires. in recent weeks, VA employees told Federal News Network that in some cases, a new popup window prevents the department’s human resources staff from moving forward with new hires.
“Your request has been submitted to the Office of Personnel Management for approval. A notification will be sent to your email once a decision is made,” the new pop-up window states. “Contact tracking@OPM.gov with any questions.”
These problems are not encountered consistently across the VA. Some VA employees say they’ve been able to access recruitment files on USA Staffing without any problems, while others say it has prevented them from filling positions VA exempted from the hiring freeze.
A VA spokesperson told Federal News Network that “VA is working with OPM to ensure hiring excepted roles during the freeze is as efficient as possible and in line with the president’s priorities.”
VA walks back some firings made in error
The VA and several other agencies fired their probationary employees on Thursday, after meeting with the Office of Personnel Management. The department said in a statement that it dismissed more than 1,000 non-bargaining unit probationary employees.
According to multiple sources, however, the VA inadvertently fired employees who were no longer in their probationary period, or were bargaining unit employees. These sources said the VA is in the process of reinstating these employees.
“Because VA used the system of record, which is rife with errors, many of the employees did not meet these criteria,” one VA employee told Federal News Network.
Federal News Network has reached out to the VA for comment.
VA crisis line staff feel hiring freeze’s impact on support personnel
VA employees who work on the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) say the hiring freeze has affected the hiring of support staff, and that a governmentwide return-to-office mandate may complicate the mission of its largely remote workforce.
Erika Alexander, president of AFGE Local 518, which represents up to 1,000 Veterans Crisis Line employees and approximately 400 member services employees in Atlanta, said the governmentwide hiring freeze has prevented the Veterans Crisis Line from hiring trainers and “silent monitors,” or quality assurance staff who provide feedback and coaching to hotline responders. The crisis line, however, is still hiring responders who answer calls.
“You’re going to overwhelm the supervisors, because they can’t hire supervisors to manage the new responders that are coming in. It’s a ripple effect,” Alexander said.
Alexander, who’s worked at the VA’s crisis line for eight years, said the hiring freeze has also prevented VCL from hiring social science assistants (SSAs), who call 911 on behalf of hotline responders.
“If I’m a crisis responder, and a veteran calls me saying that he’s going to end his life, and he’s refusing to put the gun away or whatever it might be that they’re saying — they’re going to harm themselves — I reach out to the SSA for assistance with getting a welfare check completed. And there’s a hiring freeze on those people as well,” she said.
VCL handles about 60,000 calls a month. Alexander estimated that a crisis responder will take anywhere from five to 10 calls a shift. In some cases, VCL responders can be on the phone with a veteran in crisis for hours. Those crises include veterans feeling suicidal, having PTSD symptoms or anxiety, or experiencing homelessness and seeking VA resources.
“We are the ones who speak to them. We de-escalate the situation. We provide them support,” Alexander said.
VA member services employees deal with pharmacy requests, such as refilling prescriptions, billing, and handling enrollment and eligibility for VA services.
The VA last month exempted more than 300,000 health care positions from the governmentwide hiring freeze — about three-quarters of the Veterans Health Administration employees. But Bryan Harper, president of AFGE Local 906, which represents several thousand VA employees in Topeka, Kansas who work for the Veterans Crisis Line, member services and the department’s clinical contact center, said hiring still largely remains on hold in Eastern Kansas.
“For the most part, it’s pretty much a hiring freeze on all jobs. If you had a start date by the time the executive order came out, within a week you still got the job. But after that, it was a carte blanche hiring freeze all around,” Harper said. “We’ve asked for them to be an exemption because this should not be affecting VCL, because of the job they do. This should not be affecting member services. This is what gives veterans access to care. We’re not wanting to restrict that, and that’s exactly what this is doing, is restricting our veterans’ access to care.”
Starting in July 2022, all landline and cell phone users could connect to the National Suicide Hotline by dialing 988, because of legislation Congress passed two years prior. Callers who dial 988 and then press “1” are connected to the Veterans Crisis Line. Harper said that after 988’s launch sought VA to add 1,000 VCL positions, but so far, there are still “easily” 500 VCL positions the department needs to fill.
“They’re maybe halfway through hiring all of them, because they’re struggling to find more people,” Harper said.
Those recruitment efforts, he added, may become harder, if VCL employees, like many other federal employees, are called back into the office full-time.
VCL employees in Atlanta previously worked in VA office space, but have been working remotely since April 2020. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, VCL employees were put on mandatory telework, but were officially designated as remote workers in 2022.
“Our duty station is our home. Those of us who live in Atlanta, or even the other states, we have no office to go into,” Alexander said. Some VCL employees, she added, live two hours from the nearest VA clinic or hospital, and there is no office space nearby that’s available 24/7 to meet the crisis line’s mission.
President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Jan. 20 calling for all teleworking and remote work employees to return to the office. But it remains unclear what office space — if any — is available for VCL and member services employees.
In a labor-management forum last week, Alexander said she asked if VA management had submitted any exemptions for VCL employees to remain remote. Alexander said management had not yet submitted those exemption requests, because they are “awaiting guidance as to when they should even submit that information.”
“They’re telling us that they don’t know anything. They’re saying that they have not been given any guidance. They’re awaiting information like we are,” she said.
Harper said supervisors are instructing VCL employees to be within a 50-mile radius of one of five hubs scattered across the U.S.— Atlanta; Topeka; Canandaigua, New York; Waco, Texas; and Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Harper, however, estimated there are 800-900 remote VCL employees who have never reported to an office, and may be hundreds of miles from the nearest hub. Only three VLC employees work fully in-person at the Eastern Kansas VA Medical Center, he added, but the vast majority of his bargaining unit employees work remotely.
“Right now, we’re spread across the United States. For you to sit there and tell somebody in California, ‘You must now pack up and move to Topeka’ … at minimum, you’re going to lose 60% to 70% [of staff]. It will crumble VLC overnight if you force them to do this,” he said.
A VA spokesperson said the “VA’s policy is to bring as many employees back to the office as space permits.”
“VA will make accommodations as needed to ensure employees have enough space to work and will always ensure that veterans’ access to benefits and services remains uninterrupted as employees return to in-person work,” the spokesperson said.
While some members of Congress have blasted federal employees not working in the office as inefficient, or not doing their jobs, Alexander said VCL employees are closely monitored.
VCL has an “air traffic control” department that monitors every move its responders make. Alexander said she and her coworkers log into a system at the start of every shift that tracks when they take calls, take breaks or eat lunch. Employees log codes keeping track of what they’re doing.
“Your time is literally monitored from the time you log in to the time you log out,” she said. “And if you’re in the wrong code for too long, someone will reach out to you and ask you, ‘Are you OK? Do you need help with something? Did you realize that you were still on break?”
Supervisors and silent monitors also have the ability to look at a VCL employee’s computer screen at any time.
“There is complete oversight on all the work that we do,’ Alexander said.
Hiring freeze briefly impacted VA onboarding new volunteers
The Trump administration’s hiring freeze, up until recently, also prevented the VA from onboarding new volunteers. Earlier this month, the VA posted a message on its website stating the governmentwide hiring freeze prevented the department from onboarding new volunteers.
“Due to the Presidential Memorandum (PM) entitled ‘Hiring Freeze,’ the Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE) office is not permitted to onboard any without compensated appointments (WOC), including volunteers, as of January 20, 2025,” the message stated. “During this period, you may still submit an interest form and when the hiring freeze is lifted CDCE staff will be able to contact you to begin the onboarding process.”
The message no longer appears on the VA website.
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