Veterans

VA staffing

41 public statements from 2026 candidates

§1The range of views

Why this matters: VA workers provide health care and handle disability claims for veterans, so staffing levels affect wait times as well as the VA's costs.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

How many doctors, nurses, benefits claims processors and other workers the Department of Veterans Affairs employs, after it moved in 2025 to reduce its staff by nearly 30,000.1

  1. Hire more VA staff, including to replace jobs lost in 2025
  2. Keep staffing near current levels
  3. Cut VA staff further, especially in administrative jobs

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Hire more VA staff, including to replace jobs lost in 2025 (25)

  • Mary Peltola AK Senate
    Her campaign website says she would restore the VA's clinical workforce.2
  • Lee McInnis AL-3
    His campaign website lists among his goals restoring the 35,000 health care jobs it says the current administration cut at the Department of Veterans Affairs.3
  • Ami Bera CA-3
    His campaign website says he has worked across party lines to get more medical staff into the VA and co-sponsored legislation to add VA doctors to reduce wait times.4,5
  • Ro Khanna CA-17
    His campaign website says the VA workforce should be rebuilt after cuts that it says reduced the VA's capacity to provide care and benefits.6
  • Angélica María Dueñas CA-29
    Her campaign website calls for more VA funding to hire more staff and doctors.7
  • Mike Levin CA-49
    His campaign website says veterans' health care requires hiring more VA staff, modernizing facilities and holding leadership accountable.8
  • Jessica Killin CO-5
    Her campaign website says she would increase staffing at VA clinics and restore funding to reduce wait times.9,10
  • Angie Nixon FL Senate special
    Her campaign website says she wants to restore VA job cuts and hire more VA doctors, nurses and mental health providers.11
  • Mike Sell FL-4
    His campaign's platform calls for fully funding VA health care with no cuts, no privatization and no workforce reductions, and for restoring the VA administrative staff that the Department of Government Efficiency cut, so the claims backlog can be worked down.12,13
  • Leela Gray FL-13
    Her campaign website says VA health and benefits funding should be restored, including reversing recent cuts and layoffs that it says reduced services and increased wait times.14
  • Kelly Kirschner FL-16
    His campaign website says he would fully staff VA clinics.15,16
  • Shawn Harris GA-14
    His campaign website says he would restore support staff at the VA and prioritize hiring claims processors to reduce wait times.17
  • Josh Turek IA Senate
    His campaign website says he would reverse cuts to VA staffing and health care.18
  • Lindsay James IA-2
    Her campaign website says Congress should reverse the cuts to VA staff.19
  • Matt Little MN-2
    His campaign website says he will fight to restore the staff and funding at the Department of Veterans Affairs.20
  • Fred Wellman MO-2
    His campaign website says he would reverse the staffing cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs and reinstate personnel.21
  • Jordan Herrera MO-4
    His campaign website says he would restore VA staffing and grow the VA workforce.22
  • Chris Reichard MO-8
    His Veterans page calls for restoring cut VA positions, reversing staff reductions in the VA system so veterans get timely care.23
  • Alani Bankhead MT Senate
    Her campaign website says she would reverse VA staffing cuts and rehire frontline clinical and claims staff.24
  • Seth Bodnar MT Senate
    His campaign website says he would reverse VA staffing cuts and push for faster hiring authority.25
  • Sam Forstag MT-1
    His campaign website says he would undo DOGE's cuts to VA health care staffing.26
  • Richard N. Ojeda II NC-9
    His campaign website's Fighting for Veterans page says he would push to add VA facilities in North Carolina, hire more staff and reduce red tape so veterans do not wait months to be seen.27
  • Ryan Michael Kelly NJ-3
    His campaign website says he supports adding to and retaining the VA's medical and claims staff.28
  • Annie Andrews SC Senate
    Her health care plan says she would reverse recent VA staffing cuts and fill vacant VA positions.29
  • James Talarico TX Senate
    His campaign website says he would fill VA staffing gaps, including through pay parity for VA health care providers, and would restore positions that were eliminated.30

Statements that don't match one option (16)

  • Tessa Lynn Hodge CA-23
    Her campaign website says cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs that eliminated tens of thousands of jobs will increase wait times and lower the quality of care for veterans.31
  • Tony Kozycki GA-7
    His campaign website says the VA needs better scheduling, better staffing and systems that work, and that no veteran should wait months for basic care because the system is understaffed.32
  • Daniel Biss IL-9
    His campaign website says he will work to ensure VA programs, including VA hospitals, are adequately staffed by a qualified, well-trained and fairly compensated workforce.33
  • Lauren Underwood IL-14
    Her campaign website lists writing the VA Nurse and Physician Assistant RAISE Act, signed into law in March 2022, to reduce the workforce shortage within the VA.34
  • Jennifer Todd IL-15
    Her campaign website says she will fight to ensure the VA is fully staffed and properly funded, with a focus on critical services such as mental health care and long-term care.35
  • Paul Nolley IL-16
    His campaign website says the VA is understaffed and underfunded and that he will work to fully fund and rebuild VA care, cut wait times and red tape, and ensure leadership is empowered and accountable.36
  • Callie Barr MI-1
    Her campaign website says she supports fully funding the VA. Its priorities page says the job cuts at the VA should end because the agency is understaffed and veterans face long waits.37,38
  • John Moolenaar MI-2
    His campaign website says he was an original cosponsor of the Take Care of America's Veterans Act, which the site says aims to improve veterans' health care, bolster the VA workforce and widen the benefits available to veterans.39
  • William Lawrence MI-7
    His campaign website says he will work to defend the VA against proposed layoffs of 80,000 workers, which it says would lower the quality of service and veterans' access to benefits.40
  • Erik Osberg MN-7
    It says the VA should be fully funded and fully staffed.41
  • Brian J Miller MT-2
    His campaign website lists reductions in VA employees, in new enrollment in VA health care and in housing programs for veterans under the current administration, and says the trend of cuts to veterans' programs needs to be reversed completely.42
  • Mark Cohen NE-3
    His campaign website lists fully funding the VA and supporting the PACT Act with adequate VA funding and staffing among his commitments for veterans.43
  • Chris Pappas NH Senate
    His campaign website says he has fought the Trump administration's plan to cut 80,000 VA staff.44
  • Winston Jordan NJ-12
    His policy platform website lists protecting VA staffing and services for New Jersey veterans.45
  • Steven "Chap" St John NV-1
    His campaign website says he would improve accountability and staffing for veterans' disability and benefit claims.46
  • N'Kiyla Jasmine Thomas OK Senate
    Her campaign website says she would work to improve staffing and access in veterans' health care systems.47