A damning new AP report shows, per internal memos, that Trump and Musk plan to cut 80,000 Department of Veteran Affairs employees, the agency tasked with providing healthcare to the brave men and women that served our country.
Of particular note, these cuts would impact tens of thousands of VA jobs tasked with implementing the bipartisan PACT Act, which helps provide critical health care to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. The proposed cuts would also significantly impact veterans’ job security – with a quarter of VA employees being veterans.
Key reporting points from the AP:
“The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning a reorganization that includes cutting over 80,000 jobs from the sprawling agency that provides health care for retired military members, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.”
“…That would require terminating tens of thousands of employees after the VA expanded during the Biden administration, as well as to cover veterans impacted by burn pits under the 2022 PACT Act.”
“Veterans have already been speaking out against the cuts at the VA that so far had included a few thousand employees and hundreds of contracts. More than 25% of the VA’s workforce is comprised of veterans.”
“The plans underway at the VA showed how the Trump administration’s DOGE initiative, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is not holding back on an all-out effort to slash federal agencies, even for those that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support.”
“Michael Missal, who was the VA’s inspector general for nine years until he was fired last month as part of Trump’s sweeping dismissal of independent oversight officials at government agencies, told the AP that the VA is already suffering from a lack of ‘expertise’ as top-level officials either leave or are shuffled around under the president’s plans.”
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement:
“These soon-to-be fired workers are patriotic Americans who chose to work at the VA because they genuinely care for the welfare of veterans and their families. They take to heart the department’s mission ‘to care for him who shall have borne the battle…’
“Firing more than 80,000 workers, a third of whom are veteran themselves, will destroy the VA’s ability fulfill the PACT Act’s promises to veterans who either died or became ill as a result of exposure to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. Most of these employees were hired explicitly to provide the benefits provided for in the PACT Act.
(Click here to read the March 5 Memorandum)
“The VA has been severely understaffed for many years, resulting in longer wait times for veterans in need. The DOGE plunder of career VA employees, adding to the illegal mass firings of thousands of probationary employees, can only make matter worse. Veterans and their families will suffer unnecessarily, and the will of Congress will be ignored.
“Until Elon Musk and Donald Trump came on the scene, America never turned its back on our veterans and their families. Their reckless plan to wipe out the VA’s ability to deliver on America’s promise to veterans will backfire on millions of veterans and their families who risked their lives in service for our country.
“On behalf of the 311,000 VA employees AFGE represents, I call on Congress to intervene in these un-American tactics and put a stop to Elon Musk’s DOGE rampage through America’s most cherished agencies in a blatant attempt to justify privatizing government services.”
