WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC)—issued the following statement in response to reporting on an internal memo from senior Trump Administration officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) detailing their plans to fire more than 80,000 VA employees this year, after the VA already fired over 2,400 VA employees last month:
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“Since the bipartisan PACT Act overhauled our VA to better care for our nation’s heroes, the VA has approved over one million claims from Veterans suffering from toxic-exposure—helping more Veterans than ever receive the care they’ve earned. And yet, by planning to fire more than 80,000 VA employees, Donald Trump is dooming not only our VA’s ability to handle the influx of claims, but also brave Veterans who will wait even longer to get the quality care they need. Let’s call this what it is: Republicans’ plan to dismantle the VA so they can justify privatizing the Department.
“Trump’s all-out assault on the VA is a complete betrayal of our Veterans and has absolutely nothing to do with making our government more efficient. No, Trump and Elon Musk are kicking tens of thousands of devoted public servants to the curb—many of whom are Veterans themselves—in order to carve out tax cuts for billionaires. And it is our Veterans who will pay the price.”
In the wake of Trump and Elon Musk’s mass federal layoffs, Duckworth has repeatedlyexpressed her outrage that many Veterans have been left jobless. After the first VA purge laid off workers with the Veterans Crisis Line—including several Veterans—Duckworth successfully pushed the Trump Administration to reinstate these devoted public servants that work to support our Veterans in their darkest moments.
Additionally, at an emergency national town hall hosted by VoteVets, Duckworth called out Trump and Musk for inflicting needless pain and chaos on our nation’s Veterans. During the town hall, Veterans who have been fired by Musk’s DOGE bravely came forward to share how Trump’s cuts and layoffs have uprooted their lives.
Additionally, Duckworth joined U.S. Senator and SVAC Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and a group of 34 Democratic Senators calling on VA Secretary Collins to immediately reinstate the more than 1,000 VA employees terminated last month who serve Veterans and their families nationwide.
If you are a VA employee or Veteran impacted by Trump and Musk’s mass layoffs, please reach out to the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee by filling out this form.
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