The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and National Nurses United (NNU) are warning the Trump Administration’s deferred resignation offer threatens to make short staffing at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-run Hospitals even worse. Nurses caring for returning Service Members at VA Medical Centers and Facilities are the largest group of Federal Government Employees. A 2024 report from the VA Office of Inspector General found more than 80% of facilities are already experiencing a severe nursing shortage. “We’re already facing a staffing crisis in our hospitals. We cannot afford to lose any more staff,” said Irma Westmoreland, a Registered Nurse who heads the Veterans Affairs Unit for NNU. “I can tell you here in Indiana and other places, people are really frightened about the chaos, the chaos they kind of feel around them,” said AFGE National VA Council First Executive Vice President Mary Jean Burke, who added: “A lot of people are stressed out because they kind of feel like the predictability of their mission is a little bit different.”

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