I agree. I worked as a government employee all my career in different locations. In some locations, such as the rural south, my salary was above the normal for the locale but in others, such as the D.C area, my salary was below the normal. Reducing the salaries would be ridiculous. When I retired the trend had allready begun to hire less people but increase the workload. The result being less quality work cause there are only so many hours in a day and the stress really causes you to burn-out. I worked HR for the DOD but the reputation the VA has is not good. To reduce the ranks would be a crime against the veterans who need those services.