Veterans bear the brunt of Trump’s federal workforce cuts
At least 6,000 veterans have been fired across the federal government since the Trump administration came into office on Jan 20.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has set out to “transform the federal workforce,” focusing on cutting jobs and reducing the size of key government agencies. For those who haven’t been let go, many are facing growing pressure and increased oversight from their managers along with other members of the Trump administration. This includes demands from unofficial figures like Elon Musk, who required federal workers to send the Office of Management and Budget five bullet points outlining their weekly tasks or risk being fired in a post on X.
Among the more than two million federal workers, one group experiencing the most significant impact are veterans, who make up about one-third of the workforce—around 600,000 people.
According to an estimate from congressional Democrats, at least 6,000 veterans have been fired across the federal government since the administration took over. While the exact number is unconfirmed by the White House, the firings are having drastic impacts among the community of veteran federal workers.
"This is the largest attack on veteran employment in our lifetime," said William Attig, executive director of the Union Veterans Council, a labor group that represents many of these workers to Axios. "The sheer scale of these cuts is unprecedented."
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been hit especially hard, with 2,400 job cuts in the last month alone, including probationary workers and “non-mission critical” positions. The VA is a key agency for veteran employment and providing vital services for the over 15 million veterans nationwide.
However, VA officials argue that the savings from these layoffs will be reinvested into the agency to help Veterans, but many are skeptical of this reasoning, given the lack of clear details on how the layoffs will affect services for veterans. Additionally, some federal agencies have said they are making an effort to protect veteran employees by excepting them from these layoffs and President Trump said they are “watching carefully” to minimize the number of veterans affected.
"We take good care of our veterans, and we're watching that very carefully, and we hope it's going to be as small a number as possible, but we are having great success at slimming down our government,” Trump said.
However, experts say it’s unlikely that veterans, especially disabled veterans, will be exempt from the collective punishment of the broader cuts, given their large role in the federal workforce and ongoing commitment to serving the country.
“The recent VA workforce cuts are deeply concerning, especially given the unprecedented lack of transparency surrounding these decisions. Veterans and their families deserve clear answers on how these reductions will impact their care and benefits," said Randy Reese, executive director of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) told WCVB5.
As the administration continues its efforts to shrink the federal workforce, the full impact of these cuts on veterans—and the services they rely on—remains uncertain, especially as the Trump administration makes these decisions at an unprecedented rate while spreading misinformation about the effects of their actions.
‘It’s been very uneasy,” Jane Doe, an Army and CA Army National Guard of 12 years told TUT anonymously. “The biggest challenge is misinformation and disinformation. Unfortunately, with the way this administration is running, even the director where I work doesn't know what's happening until we all find out from X or some other media. It makes it harder for us at the VA to be able to tell Veterans what's happening.”