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.”
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.