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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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DOGE-led efforts to slash the Department of Veterans Affairs' workforce have sparked anger among laid-off employees and federal workers' advocates, who said that Americans who served their country "deserve better" than being shown the door by the Trump administration.
In February, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) announced the dismissal of more than 1,000 employees, in a move that the agency said would have saved more than $98 million per year to be redirected towards health care, benefits and services for its beneficiaries.
Later in that same month, the VA fired an additional 1,400 probationary staff members who the agency said were in "non-mission critical positions" and in "DEI-related positions." Some of the affected contracts later proved to have impacted essential services, causing the VA to act fast to roll back cancellations and clarify that its contract review was still ongoing and not final.
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Last week, an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press (AP) showed that the VA is planning a reorganization that includes cutting more than 80,000 jobs across the agency. More than 25 percent of the VA's workforce are veterans.
Why It Matters
The Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE, has been tapped by Donald Trump to shrink the "bloated" size of the federal government, which the president claimed is filled with "people that are unnecessary."
Since the establishment of the new advisory body on January 20, DOGE has recommended the firings of more than 200,000 federal workers, while roughly 75,000 took the Trump administration's voluntary buyout offers.
These cuts have sparked outrage among Democrats and voters and raised concerns over the way affected agencies will continue operating with reduced workforce and funding—but no other layoffs have proven as unpopular as those within the VA, one of the most well-respected government agencies in the country.
What To Know
Andrew McKinney, an Army veteran who served in Korea and Hawaii in the 1980s and 1990s, is among the hundreds of VA employees who were recently laid off. Talking to Fox 47 this week, he rebuked the department for failing to take care of people like him.
"The mission is to serve veterans, people who serve the country," he said. "We deserve better than this."
McKinney "did cash handling and cash management, so applying payment for veterans," he said, as well as "collecting from insurance companies." He was part of the second wave of layoffs which got rid of 1,400 VA staff members in late February.
The veteran, who had been employed at the North Central CPAC for the past three months, is now worried about those whom he used to help in his VA role and are now likely waiting for crucial benefits, as well as his own future.
"Some are on fixed income," he told Fox 47. "Now they have to wait to see if this money's been processed or not." In 2024, the VA reached a record level of enrollees at 9 million and delivered more than 127.5 million health care appointments, VA figures show.
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McKinney is far from the only one to feel betrayed by the VA cuts and to be concerned over the impact this could have on vulnerable veterans.
In an interview with AP, former U.S. Marine Gregg Bafundo said that the cuts "are going to put guys like me and my fellow Marines that rely on the VA in the ground." Bafundo, who suffered nerve damage to his feet from carrying loads of weight as a Marine mortarman, was recently fired as a wilderness ranger and firefighter as part of layoffs in the U.S. Forest Service.
Collins has defended cuts across the agency, saying that they are necessary to fix the various problems afflicting the agency, "including long wait times, benefits backlogs and huge budget deficits."
What People Are Saying
In a statement shared on social media last week, VA Secretary Doug Collins said:"Things need to change. This administration is finally going to give the veterans what they want. President Trump has a mandate for generational change in Washington and that's exactly what we're going to deliver at the VA."
On X, he wrote: "America's Veterans deserve better than a health care system that has been at high-risk for ten years running. We have an obligation to make VA work better for the Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors we are charged with serving, and that is exactly what we will do."
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement published by AP that Trump "refuses to accept the VA bureaucracy and bloat that has hindered veterans' ability to receive timely and quality care." Changes, she said, would "ensure greater efficiency and transparency" at the VA.
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley said in a statement shared with Newsweek: "Firing more than 80,000 workers, a third of whom are veteran themselves, will destroy the VA's ability fulfil 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."
He continued: "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 matters worse. Veterans and their families will suffer unnecessarily, and the will of Congress will be ignored."
Brent Reiffer, a Marine veteran receiving medical care through the VA, told AP: "If you draw that to a conclusion sometimes, it's the veteran just throws the hands up and sort of doesn't go to the VA. What you end up with is a lot of veterans that are not getting the care that they deserve."
Sean O'Connor, founder of DexCare and former navy lieutenant, said in a statement shared with Newsweek: "If DOGE and this administration are serious about modernizing the VA, they must pair cuts with a relentless focus on the kind of rapid innovation that will close gaps in veteran care and reduce wait times."
Deborah McGee, HR innovator, military spouse and veteran employer, said in a statement shared with Newsweek: "The government has a responsibility to take care of their veterans, as promised during their service to our country. However, that must be tempered with a duty to our country to keep our government's budget in check. It is and will be difficult to right-size this situation. Until we cut, we sometimes do not know exactly what is needed."
What Happens Next
According to the internal memo circulated last week, the VA wants to reduce staffing to pre-2019 levels of just under 400,000 as it identifies and eliminates waste and reduces management and bureaucracy. That equates to a 20 percent cut to the department's total workforce.
Collins confirmed on Monday talking to Fox & Friends that the agency has a target of cutting 80,000 jobs across the country, though he said this was a goal passed on by the Trump administration.
"Until Elon Musk and Donald Trump came on the scene, America never turned its back on our veterans and their families," Kelley said in a statement shared with Newsweek. "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."
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