Trump/Musk slashed federal workforce--now Virginia's Veterans are paying the price.

[IrishBubbaLiberal]

https://bsky.app/profile/votevets.org/post/3lnl2gbrc722m

Trump and Musk slashed the federal workforce—now Virginia’s Veterans are paying the price.

Lost jobs. Delayed care. Vanishing support.

This isn’t about “efficiency.”
It’s deliberate—and Veterans are the collateral damage.


https://virginiaindependentnews.com/politics/trump-administration-workforce-cuts-are-hurting-virginias-veterans/

The Department of Government Efficiency has frozen hiring and ordered staff reductions at Virginia’s US Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.

April 23, 2024
By Josh Israel

President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed hiring freezes and attempted job cuts throughout the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Union leaders at the department’s Virginia facilities say these moves have shaken morale, undermined patient care, and hurt many veterans who are employees.
Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump presented himself as a strong defender of America’s veterans who would improve the VA. “Our vets are being treated the worst of all. How about our vets? They’re laying in the street,” he told the Faith and Freedom Coalition in a June 2024 address. “I had the highest approval rating for a president ever with the Veterans Administration. Now, it’s one of the lowest. What I did was incredible, like no long waits.” A survey conducted through the agency’s Veterans Signals feedback platform during the first three months of 2024 of veterans who used VA services across the country in fact found 80.4% approved of the agency under President Joe Biden, an all-time high, according to the department’s website.

Since returning to the White House on Jan. 20, Trump has frozen hiring across most federal agencies, calling the move “a critical step in shrinking the federal government and ensuring taxpayer dollars are used efficiently.” Through his Department of Government Efficiency, the administration attempted to lay off tens of thousands of newer hires, known as probationary employees, though many were temporarily reinstated as legal challenges work their way through the courts.

On March 5, VA Secretary Doug Collins announced plans to slash 15% of the agency’s staff, reducing it from 470,000 employees to 398,000. More than 122,000 of the VA’s employees are themselves veterans. “In response to President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative, VA is conducting a department-wide review of its organization, operations and structure,” Collins said in a video. “Central to these efforts is a pragmatic and disciplined approach to eliminating waste and bureaucracy, increasing efficiency, and improving health care, benefits, and services to veterans.” He promised these changes would be made without making cuts to health care and benefits for veterans and VA beneficiaries.

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