Department of Veterans Affairs research into dementia, substance abuse, strokes and more continues to be disrupted by ongoing delays in federal hiring, senators warned in a recent letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins.
The letter from a trio of Democratic senators coincides with warnings from researchers and others familiar with the situation that there is still effectively a hiring freeze on VA researchers.
In their letter, the senators called on Collins to "build back VA research" after a series of "self-inflicted issues."
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"To rebuild this cornerstone of the United States' medical research enterprise, you must rehire VA researchers whose terms were not extended due to the hiring freeze, address the backlog of research positions that were frozen but are now able to be hired again, coordinate with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to restore canceled grants for VA researchers, and allow researchers to publish their findings without the unprecedented step of preapproval by political appointees," the three senators wrote to the VA secretary.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained exclusively by Military.com ahead of its public release, was written by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee; Patty Murray, D-Wash., the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.
It is the latest alarm rung by lawmakers about the Trump administration's treatment of the VA's research program, which is celebrating its centennial this year and has been credited with numerous medical breakthroughs that have saved both veterans and the broader public.
In February, lawmakers began warning that the administration's government-wide hiring freeze was having ripple effects on VA research because researchers with time-limited positions could not have their appointments extended even if their research project was still active. Typically, researchers are appointed to three-year "not to exceed" term limits, but their positions are usually renewed if their project is still active at the end of the term.
After lawmaker pressure, the VA granted a 90-day reprieve from the hiring freeze for researchers. And in May, the department exempted numerous research positions from the hiring freeze.
But researchers have recently told Congress that some VA research appointments are being delayed by the Office of Personnel and Management, which is essentially human resources for the federal government -- meaning a hiring freeze is still effectively in place.
Specifically, "without compensation," or WOC, and "intergovernmental personnel," or IPA, positions, are being held up, a source familiar with the situation told Military.com. Researchers have also reached out to Congress with similar warnings, according to copies of the messages obtained by Military.com.
Those positions, which are typically university researchers or other academic affiliates, represent about 90% of VA researchers, meaning delays in their hiring have an outsized effect on VA studies and clinical trials, the source said. If the hiring delays continue, studies could be stalled and recruitment for veterans to participate in clinical trials could be paused, the source and the messages to Congress said.
Meanwhile, the original hiring freeze already disrupted several clinical trials and veterans' access to cutting-edge treatments, the Democratic senators said in their letter.
For example, according to the letter, a clinical trial aimed at preventing dementia and heart disease turned veterans away from enrollment after a researcher's appointment was not renewed; a substance use disorder study and a study on predicting stroke were both paused after employees involved in the research were fired; and enrollment in clinical trials for advanced cancers was delayed.
"Due to your hiring freeze, essential researchers whose terms were ending soon were shown the door and forced to abandon often lifesaving work, and their positions were unable to be backfilled," the senators wrote. "VA research staff nationwide are reporting a significant backlog in the hiring process for critical research employees who are finally, after months of waiting, no longer subject to your hiring freeze. Failure to swiftly address this backlog will put veterans' health at risk, decimate the morale of an already understaffed research workforce, and undercut one of VA's best recruiting tools."
The VA did not provide a comment on the letter and the allegations of ongoing hiring delays by Military.com's deadline Monday. But officials have previously denied that hiring freezes have hampered VA research.
"I think clinical trials are very important," Collins said at a Senate hearing in May, before noting the 90-day pause in the hiring freeze for researchers.
The senators, though, warned of potentially "severe and long-lasting" consequences from hiring issues on VA research.
"Scientific research takes years to build, and it cannot be treated like a spigot -- turned on and off at will to serve the Trump administration's efforts to balance the budget on the backs of veterans," they wrote. "You still have the chance to correct course by immediately rehiring wrongly terminated researchers, working with OPM to quickly address the backlog in research staff hiring, coordinating with other agencies to restore all grants revoked from VA researchers, and assuring current and future VA researchers that their research will not be subject to political review."
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