The acting Veterans Affairs secretary said in a Jan. 21 memo that the requested exemptions cover positions critical to the delivery of health care services.

The VA memo exempts roughly three-quarters of the Veterans Health Administration's roughly 400,000-employee workforce.

Scope of hiring freeze clarified after U.S. senator and others react to plans by the Minneapolis VA to rescind job offers.

VA officials said the exemptions to a Jan. 20 executive order are necessary to provide health care and services to veterans.

Trump's VA pick, former Rep. Doug Collins, said the VA may be trying to fill positions, but many of those vacancies have gone unfilled for weeks or longer.

VA hires about 40,000 new workers every year to maintain operations at VA medical sites. It's unclear if that can continue under Trump's hiring halt.

Veterans Affairs officials issued guidance Thursday exempting more than 300,000 department health care posts from the White House’s federal hiring freeze, labeling them as essen

The president is throwing the federal government, and the welfare of the men and women who fought for the nation, into chaos