As congressional lawmakers scramble to respond to US President Donald Trump’s slashing of the federal government, one group is already taking a front and centre role: military veterans.
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From lay-offs at the Department of Veterans Affairs to a Pentagon purge of archives that documented diversity in the military, veterans have been acutely affected by Trump’s actions. And with the Republican president determined to continue slashing the federal government, the burden will only grow on veterans, who make up roughly 30 per cent of the federal workforce and often tap government benefits they earned with their military service.
“At a moment of crisis for all of our veterans, the VA’s system of healthcare and benefits has been disastrously and disgracefully put on the chopping block by the Trump administration,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs (VA) Committee, at a news conference last week.
Most veterans voted for Trump last year – nearly 6 in 10, according to an Associated Press survey of more than 120,000 voters. Yet congressional Republicans are standing in support of Trump’s goals even as they encounter fierce pushback in their home districts. At a series of town halls this week, veterans angrily confronted Republican members as they defended the cuts made under Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).
“Do your job!” Jay Carey, a military veteran, yelled at Republican Chuck Edwards at a town hall in North Carolina.
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