The Department of Veterans Affairs has abandoned plans to cut more than 80,000 employees, scaling back that number to just under 30,000 after a massive outcry from veterans, advocate groups and lawmakers and an exodus of individuals from the agency.

In a Monday news release, the VA said that it was on pace to reduce its total staff by nearly 30,000 employees by the end of this fiscal year due to “the federal hiring freeze, deferred resignations, retirements and normal attrition.”

That reduction eliminates “the need for a large-scale reduction-in-force,” up to 15 percent of employees, or some 83,000 individuals, according to the release.

The announcement is a sharp turn for the Trump administration, which for months has sought to eliminate 83,000 roles - reducing the VA’s workforce to its 2019 size of less than 400,000 staffers - as laid out in an internal memo sent to employees in March.

VA Secretary Douglas Collins said at the time that the cuts were following President Trump’s executive order,........

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