Amid VA policy change row, employees receive 'wild' email and asked to report waste, abuse

Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were instructed to report a single instance of "fraud, waste, or abuse," as the agency announced the discontinuation of its previous requirement for staff to submit weekly emails listing five work accomplishments. According to a leaked email from VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek, employees at VA were directed to identify a departmental problem and suggest a solution for it last week, reports NewsWeek. VA is the second-largest U.S. government department, which employs approximately 470,000 people.

In March, tech billionaire Elon Musk who was spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formed to slash federal spending and downsizing agencies. He had asked government employees to send a detailed weekly email detailing their list of accomplishments achieved in the previous week. Failure to comply would be taken as a resignation, Musk said at the time.

Ever since Musk has announced his departure from DOGE, some agencies have continued to demand these emails while others have put a halt to it, including the Department of Defense, reports suggest.


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The development comes after a report in The Guardian claimed that new Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals could refuse care to veterans based on factors like marital status and political affiliation due to an executive order by President Trump. The Guardian reported that “doctors and other medical staff can also be barred from working at VA hospitals based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity."

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly adamantly denied The Guardian’s reporting. Writing on social platform X, Kelly addressed the article’s writer, Aaron Glantz, saying, “Aaron, this is a totally FALSE story that The Guardian should retract immediately. Fearmongering with our Veterans to try to score clicks for your failing ‘news outlet’ is pathetic and shameful.”

What does the email sent to VA employees read?

"Starting today, VA is ending the requirement for these weekly updates, but we are asking you to make a different, one-time submission. Please identify a VA issue that you consider to be a problem and an example of fraud, waste, or abuse and provide a one-sentence description of the problem and your recommended solution," the VA email sent on June 13 read. It added that staff were to email submissions to their direct supervisors by June 16.

Greg Williams, director of the Center for Defense Information at the nonpartisan watchdog Project On Government Oversight, told Newsweek that the request needed to be managed carefully by VA leadership. While emphasizing the importance of addressing waste, fraud, and abuse, he cautioned that the email could be perceived as “a threatening demand” for staff to “rat on their colleagues.”

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Williams said: "I think the impact of this depends a lot on how individual line managers address it. As a professional watchdog, I believe we should all—government employees and private citizens alike—always be on the lookout for waste, fraud and abuse. I see setting an example and teaching others how to be better watchdogs as fundamental not only to my job, but also my identity as a citizen of a democracy. So, if VA employees are encouraged to treat this email as inspiration to be more careful with the public trust, I'm all for it.

He continued: "I'm concerned that if VA employees receive this email from a Trump appointee, without reinforcement from their more immediate supervisors, they will wonder if the Trump administration trusts the VA chain of command, and they will receive it as a threatening demand that they rat on their colleagues. I'd expect this to be counterproductive."

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The email has stirred concern among VA employees. One staff member, speaking to Newsweek on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation, described the message as "insulting." They noted that the government already has established mechanisms—such as the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Inspector General—for reporting waste.

"The email was wild, they said. "And it felt like once again a 'snitch on your co-workers' email."