What official statements has the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs made about Alex Pretti’s employment status?

1. What the VA’s top official posted — a condolence that is being treated as an official remark

VA Secretary Doug Collins posted condolences about Pretti’s death on social media and his comments have been treated in reporting as the department’s principal public response; STAT reported that Collins “sent condolences to the Pretti family on X” and then framed the incident in political terms ^[1]. That post exists in the cited reporting and is the clearest, attributable VA statement in the record provided, but it is framed as a condolence and political commentary rather than a formal personnel confirmation or HR-style employment verification ^[1].

2. What the VA has not been shown to say, according to the reporting

Multiple fact-checking and news reports emphasize that authorities have not provided a formal, independent VA confirmation of Pretti’s employment in the materials reviewed: Times Now noted “no official confirmation has been provided” about VA employment ^[2], and Hindustan Times likewise reported authorities had not confirmed his employment history ^[6]. Those articles indicate that, while many outlets and organizations identify Pretti as a VA nurse, the dataset here does not include a formal VA press release explicitly verifying his personnel file details ^{[2] [6]}.

3. Other VA-adjacent sources identifying Pretti as a VA employee

Reported confirmations about Pretti’s role come from sources closely tied to the VA workforce and public records rather than a standalone VA HR statement: the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) — the union representing Minneapolis VA staff — publicly called Pretti a VA ICU nurse and said he “dedicated his life to serving American veterans” ^[4], and outlets cite family statements and Minnesota nursing-license records showing an active license issued in 2021 ^{[5] [3]}. Military.com, Military Times, TIME and others similarly report that Pretti worked at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center based on union, family and local records ^{[7] [5] [4]}.

4. How reporters and advocacy groups distinguish VA confirmation from other sourcing

News organizations covering the case consistently separate three types of claims: (a) direct VA or federal agency statements, (b) union and family statements identifying employment, and (c) public professional records like state nursing-license data. Good Morning America and Hindustan Times explicitly note that the AFGE and state license database underpin many reports that Pretti worked at the Minneapolis VA, while also noting the absence of a formal, separate VA personnel confirmation in those stories ^{[3] [6]}. This distinction matters because a union or family statement is not the same as a department-issued employment verification.

5. Competing narratives and implicit agendas in the available VA-linked remarks

The VA Secretary’s post, as reported, mixed condolence with political framing — a stance that drew criticism from veterans’ organizations and commentators who saw it as aligning departmental messaging with administration policy positions ^{[1] [8]}. Labor groups and senators quickly and publicly identified Pretti as a VA ICU nurse to press for accountability, which helps explain why many reports assert his VA employment even where a separate VA HR confirmation is not cited ^{[8] [9]}. Reporters and fact-checkers are trying to balance these political and union-driven narratives against the narrower question of what a department spokesperson or official record has formally stated.

6. Bottom line and reporting limits

Based on the documents provided, the only clearly attributable VA communication cited is Secretary Doug Collins’ social-media condolence, which does not function as a formal HR verification of employment ^[1]. Multiple reputable sources — union statements, family comments, state nursing-license records, and several major news outlets — identify Pretti as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center ^{[4] [5] [3] [7]}, but the reviewed coverage also includes explicit notes that an independent VA personnel confirmation beyond the Secretary’s public post was not present in the reporting sampled ^{[2] [6]}. If a reader needs a formal VA personnel verification (employer dates, position title in personnel records), that specific document or VA press release was not found in the sources provided and would require direct VA HR confirmation or a VA press statement not included here.