With the Department of Veterans Affairs expected to lay off tens of thousands of employees amid the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to downsize the federal government, an information-seeking visit Monday by a three-person team from the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters sparked panic and protests at San Francisco’s VA hospital.
Protesters and other employees were quick to link the visit to the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting entity headed by Elon Musk, which has been firing hundreds of thousands of federal workers and slashing programs in the months since Donald Trump’s inauguration.
While federal officials denied that the visit has any link to DOGE or mass layoffs, VA hospital workers fear the team is poised to cut staff and services without understanding the facility’s operations or the impacts cuts could have on veterans.
“It’s hard not to feel like this is somewhat nefarious. … It feels very DOGE-y,” said one San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center worker who met with the team Monday and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. “If the last couple of months hadn’t happened, and this was just a routine strategic visit, and they wanted to know about our processes, I’d be thrilled.”
The Standard obtained an agenda for the two-day visit by officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The document shows that the team is interviewing many of the facility’s leaders, from top nurses to suicide prevention employees.
In a March 15 memo reviewed by The Standard, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins laid out plans to create efficiencies through a national review of agency operations, led by teams like the one in San Francisco that aim to complete their work in around one month and “streamline policies, processes, procedures, and technology.”
In April, Wired reported that DOGE was planning mass cuts at the VA through the use of artificial intelligence. A leaked memo shows the department plans to lay off 83,000 workers at roughly 200 medical centers and hospitals nationwide.
In a statement, VA officials said the visit to San Francisco is part of a national information-gathering effort, with no broader agenda.
“These fact-finding missions have nothing to do with DOGE or staff cuts, and everything to do with ensuring VA is providing the best possible services to veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors,” a statement said.
Union officials representing hospital workers waved away that rationale.
“They’re using the language of efficiency to find ways they can cut social services and healthcare,” said Mark Smith, who heads the local chapter of the National Federation of Federal Employees. “It smells like and tastes like DOGE, because they are coming in with what feels like a lack of understanding.”
Workers and veterans picketed outside the hospital Monday morning in opposition to any cuts to the system.
“We’re out here to show the federal workforce, the federal VA employees, and the veterans that we’re fighting for them and their services,” said Dr. Ginger Schechter, a retired VA physician and chief medical officer of AffirmativHealth.
Cancer patient Katie Weber, who served in the U.S. Army during the early ’90s, came to the protest to support VA workers. She said she fears any cuts will interrupt her care.
“When you take our providers away, we’re gonna be at emergency rooms and Kaiser with uninformed physicians who don’t understand the cancers we have,” she said.