Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are both developing legislation to safeguard veterans from workforce reductions by the Trump administration. Bill Clark / Getty Images
Top Republican and Democrat plan competing bills to curb VA firings, protect veterans
Thousands of veterans have lost their jobs across federal agencies in sweeping cuts by the Trump administration, according to lawmakers.
This story was updated at 11:30 a.m. on March 12.
Two bills unveiled in as many days by Senate Democrats would force the Trump administration to rehire veterans cut through recent probationary firings and reductions in force efforts and take them off future chopping blocks.
On Tuesday, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., revealed his Putting Veterans First Act one week after Government Executive first reported the Veterans Affairs Department’s plan to lay off 83,000 employees.
Blumenthal’s bill would reinstate with backpay all veterans, military spouses, survivors, veteran caregivers and members of the Guard and Reserves—and all VA employees thus far—“illegally fired, demoted or suspended as part of the Trump administration’s mass terminations. It would further protect veterans in the civil service from being included in future mass terminations.
Veterans comprise roughly 30% of the more than 2 million civilian government employees, according to the September data from the Office of Personnel Management.
“These reckless actions are damaging the economic security and morale of our military and veteran families, the federal government’s ability to recruit and retain high-quality talent, and our national security,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “Veterans and their families have willingly sacrificed everything for this country, and they deserve a government that treats them with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
Also on Tuesday, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., announced during a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing he will put forward legislation that will also seek to put some constraints on the Trump administration’s efforts to remake VA’s workforce. He said VA must work closely with Congress and stakeholders such as veterans service organizations when seeking to make staffing cuts.
“I am working on legislation that would require the VA’s workforce planning to follow that model, because Congress must play a significant role in strategically shaping VA workforce decisions to achieve the right outcomes for veterans and their families,” Moran said. The Republican chairman added he will make certain that “VA remains well staffed by quality workforce, and that efforts to right size that workforce are done in a responsible manner and treat the men and women who entered public service to care for veterans, many of whom themselves are veterans, with respect and gratitude.”
Moran said he has voiced his reservations to VA Secretary Doug Collins, who has agreed to testify before the committee. Collins has defended the firings and upcoming layoffs, suggesting they will not impact veteran care and would eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy.
Blumenthal’s bill followed the Protect Veteran Jobs Act introduced Monday by Sens. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Andy Kim, D-N.J. That measure, which is a companion bill to Rep. Derek Tran’s, D-Calif., House version, would reinstate veterans displaced by recent mass layoffs and require quarterly reports by the Trump administration documenting the total number of veterans laid off within the federal ranks.
"Veterans who choose to continue their service to our country in the federal workforce deserve our utmost gratitude, but instead this Administration has kicked thousands of our heroes to the curb and left them without a paycheck," Duckworth, a former combat veteran, said in a statement. "The message of our bill is simple: Give our heroes their jobs back.”
Big impact to veterans
Thus far, the Trump administration has laid off more than 30,000 federal employees through probationary firings and reductions in force efforts. Another 75,000 have accepted the Office of Personnel Management’s deferred resignation offer, spurred by billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.
It’s unclear how many veterans have been impacted by recent cuts, but House Democrats estimate at least 6,000 have been fired so far—with tens of thousands or more likely as agencies prepare plans to reduce workforces.
For example, VA’s own plan to cull more than 83,000 of its 482,000 employees could eliminate as many as 21,000 veterans given veterans comprise more than 25% of its total employees. Since Feb. 13, VA has laid off 2,400 employees, 800 of which could be expected to be veterans based on OPM’s FedScope data.
"VA health care has been on the Government Accountability Office’s high-risk list for ten years straight, and according to GAO, VA faces 'system-wide challenges in overseeing patient safety and access to care, hiring critical staff, and meeting future infrastructure needs,'" VA press secretary Pete Kasperowicz told Government Executive. "We want to reform the department to fix these and other problems. VA is already redirecting billions of dollars from non-mission critical efforts to Veteran-facing services, which will result in massive improvements without cutting health care or benefits. 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," he added.
The Defense Department began firing 5,400 probationary employees last week, 2,300 of which could be expected to be veterans based on the composition of its workforce. DOD is by far the largest employer of veterans across government, with 330,000 veterans within its ranks—or almost 44% of its total civilian workforce of 764,000.
Republicans have faced heated townhalls in recent weeks, in part over public frustration over veteran firings. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., who chairs the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, recently penned a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins calling on the agency to “guarantee” only underperformers are targeted for cuts. In the letter, Barrett said he supported ongoing efforts to streamline VA’s operations and healthcare delivery services, but added that “this must be done in a way that keeps our promise to all veterans at the VA, including those who receive care and those who help carry out its mission.”
Eric Katz contributed to this report.
Editor's note: This story was updated to include comment from the Veterans Affairs Department.