WASHINGTON, DC — At his confirmation hearing, President Donald Trump’s nominee for deputy VA secretary, Paul Lawrence, PhD, promised he would look into recent firings at VA but said that he had not been privy to recent internal department decisions and that he believed what had been stated in VA press releases—that the layoffs were done with consideration for veterans and did not affect mission-critical personnel.
When presented with instances where veterans’ care reportedly had been impacted, Lawrence said, “That is inconsistent with what I read.”
This response, a variation of which Lawrence repeated several times during the two-hour session, frustrated Democrats, who were seeking assurances that Lawrence would work to reverse the firings if he discovered they were done improperly.
The deputy secretary is the chief operating officer of VA and is the second highest-ranking position in the department. The position is also in charge of overseeing the ongoing electronic health record overhaul. Lawrence served as Under Secretary of VBA during Trump’s first term.
“Last week, my office’s phones were ringing off the hook … with really panicked calls from researchers at the VA,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) told Lawrence. “They had been laid off with zero justification, zero warning, and up until then the VA had assured them they were protected from Trump and Musk’s mass firings.”
She added, “VA research should not be political, and firing VA researchers who are in the middle of a process to find lifesaving treatment for veterans with conditions like PTSD or opioid addiction or cancer from toxic exposure is cruel and wasteful.”
Lawrence said that, if confirmed, he would “commit to looking into understanding what happened and why.”
“I hope that’s not like every other answer we get from people we’re hearing from—that they’ll look into it and no action is taken,” Murray said. “This is critical.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) expressed concern about how the recent firings would impact the staff left behind.
“I’m worried these actions will prompt some employees to eventually leave federal service and will scare many more potential employees from applying to VA jobs in the future,” she said. “If that happens, VA is going to have an even harder time hiring the appropriate number of nurses, doctors and others to provide the care and benefits veterans have earned.”
Asked what he would do to rebuild trust with VA staff moving forward, Lawrence said he would focus on VA’s mission and “the special nature of what we do.”
“I’d also like to point out that in my previous tenure [at VBA], when we exited nonperforming employees, the top performers really liked that, because they understood as managers that we could differentiate between their very valuable contribution and the poor performers,” he said.
Hassan noted that there was no evidence the VA employees currently being let go were poor performers.
“They’re using a meat cleaver when they should be using a scalpel,” she declared.
Sen. Angus King (I-ME), one of only two independents in the Senate, asked Lawrence his thoughts on the resignation offer that went out to all federal employees last month.
“You cannot convince me if that was thoughtful,” King said. “What happens if the best people leave, which is what they’re saying is going to happen, because those are the people who can get jobs quickly?”
Lawrence was more definitive in his answers to questions around veterans’ health information. When pressed by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) on what he would do if Elon Musk and his assistants sought access to sensitive veteran data, Lawrence said, “This is a much easier answer. The answer is ‘no you cannot have access to that information.’ My understanding right now is they do not have access to that information. It’s one [DOGE] employee who has access to contract information, general operation information, and management of the IT department. … From what I know from [serving at VBA before], access to veterans’ benefits and health information is strictly guarded.”
Slotkin suggested that the status quo when it comes to federal data protection has changed significantly in the previous weeks.
“It’s not about your commitment to veterans,” she said. “Your commitment is going to mean fighting some very tough fights with people on your same political team.”
