A new report from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Inspector General found 4,434 severe staffing shortages across the VA’s nationwide health-care network in fiscal 2025, a 50% increase from the previous year. Surveys returned by all 139 Veterans Health Administration facilities showed 94% of sites lack sufficient medical officers such as doctors, while 79% reported shortages of nurses. Psychologists, police officers and other clinical and non-clinical roles also registered record gaps. The findings arrive as the Trump administration pursues workforce reductions through the Department of Government Efficiency, trimming an earlier plan to eliminate 80,000 VA positions to nearly 30,000 slots by the end of September. VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz dismissed the watchdog’s survey as subjective, saying actual vacancy rates stand at 14% for doctors and 10% for nurses—figures he called consistent with industry norms. Democratic lawmakers argued the shortages threaten veterans’ access to care and accused the administration of undermining the agency through union-contract terminations and other policies.