Trump Hiring Freeze Spurs Hundreds of Cuts in VA Health Research

President Donald Trump’s federal hiring freeze is forcing terminations at the US Department of Veterans Affairs research office, jeopardizing projects that advance treatments for cancer, drug withdrawal and more.

While doctors, nurses and other medical staff have been exempt from the Trump administration’s broad hiring halt and workforce cuts, the VA’s Office of Research and Development — one of the largest hubs for medical research in the world — was told it couldn’t keep researchers as their appointments end. Initial guidance had suggested that those jobs would also be protected.