President Donald Trump's nominee to be the No. 2 official in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was grilled Wednesday on Capitol Hill as the White House cleans out federal agencies, including the VA.
The dismissals, announced Monday evening and part of the White House cost-cutting efforts, follow a first round of 1,000 VA layoffs.
More than 2 million federal workers received an email over the weekend threatening firing if they can't justify their work performance by Monday night.
President Donald Trump and members of his second administration are continuing their effort to swiftly remodel the federal government, including making far-reaching changes to personnel. The president on Tuesday is holding his first Cabinet meeting, where Elon Musk will also be in attendance.
An email arrived in the inboxes of workers at Spokane's Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center and employees across the federal government on Saturday afternoon with a seemingly simple request from the Office of Personnel Management.
In his first public address to a veterans group, Doug Collins outlined plans to broaden VA benefits and cut back bureaucracy.
Veterans Affairs leaders dismissed more than 1,400 additional probationary employees on Monday evening, the second round of mass layoffs at the department this month. Monday’s dismissals included bargaining-unit employees who have served less than two years in their posts.
The White House said Tuesday that it would take over which outlets are allowed into the press pool covering the president, wrestling control from the White House Correspondents’ Association.