Veterans service organizations are expressing concern about the latest cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs which recently announced it was dismissing 1,400 probationary employees on top of the more than 1,000 employees fired earlier this month.
“The recent VA workforce cuts are deeply concerning, especially given the unprecedented lack of transparency surrounding these decisions,” Randy Reese, executive director of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Washington Headquarters, said in a statement on Wednesday. “Veterans and their families deserve clear answers on how these reductions will impact their care and benefits.”
Reese noted that DAV worked with Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) on a series of budget recommendations for the VA, adding “cuts like these move us in the wrong direction.”
“We are calling for greater transparency to ensure veterans are not left in the dark about changes that affect their earned care,” Reese said. “DAV remains committed to working with VA and policymakers to protect the care and benefits veterans have earned.”
VA Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz told Task & Purpose on Wednesday that the cuts will allow the agency to shift $180 million per year towards healthcare and benefits for VA beneficiaries, adding that mission-critical positions are exempt from hiring freezes and layoffs.
Still, the cuts to the VA have created “a lot of anxiety” in the veterans community, Cole Lyle, national director of veterans affairs and rehabilitation for the American Legion, told lawmakers on Wednesday.
“We spoke with the secretary of Veterans Affairs yesterday,” Lyle said during a joint House and Senate hearing with other veteran service organizations. During his testimony, Lyle said that American Legion spoke with Collins “about the clarity in which these firings were occurring, and that we would like to have a productive conversation with him and with our committees going forward about how it would impact veterans.”
Lyle also said that the American Legion had asked “career officials” at the VA if the firings would affect veterans healthcare and benefits.
“They did not express any concern that they would, but we will continue to have productive conversations with them,” he said.
Other veterans groups have indicated they have less unease about the dismissals at the VA.
“We support the new VA Secretary’s stated position that every resource and effort in the VA needs to be focused on its mission for delivery of service to the actual veteran,” Jack McManus, national president of Vietnam Veterans of America, said in a statement.
John Vick, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), also provided Task & Purpose with a statement about the VA cuts saying that the group “has been a close observer of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs since our founding 13 years ago. We have consistently called for a robust review of VA assets, facilities, and VA personnel to ensure taxpayer dollars are optimized to provide veterans the highest quality and most timely care available.”
Elon Musk, a major ally of President Donald Trump, is spearheading a team called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is looking to slash the size of the federal workforce to rein in government spending.
So far, the Trump administration has terminated thousands of probationary employees across the federal government, who generally have been in their jobs less than a year and have fewer protections against being fired.
The national commander for Veterans of Foreign Wars, Al Lipphardt, recently noted that roughly 30% of the 2.2 million people who work for the federal government are veterans and, as a result, the military community is being hit hard by the layoffs.
“There are bigger ramifications in firing veterans than just faceless workers being let go,” Lipphardt said in a statement on Tuesday. “The American people are losing technical expertise, training and security clearances already bought and paid for by taxpayers. These veterans are now being told their skills are no longer useful to the government.”
It appears that veterans who have been fired learned of their termination from emails that were automated “with little to no oversight or thought,” Lipphardt said. He also said that gainful employment is a key factor in preventing veteran suicide deaths.
“Since the federal government is the single largest employer of veterans in the nation, it’s veterans who are being indiscriminately harmed in this bull-‘DOGE’-ing of the federal work force,” Lipphardt said.