Baldwin Slams Trump’s Mass Firings of VA Employees, Calls to Reverse Firings and Put Veterans First

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) released the following statement in response to President Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) firing another 1,400 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees, in addition to the 1,000 employees who were fired earlier this month. Baldwin has heard from impacted employees and Veterans concerned about the quality of their care being diminished. Approximately 30% of the federal workforce are veterans themselves and it is estimated that nearly 6,000 veterans have been fired.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk are trying to make room in the budget for tax breaks for billionaires, paid for by ripping the rug out from our Veterans and forcing the hard-working doctors, nurses, and staff at the VA out the door,” said Senator Baldwin. “It doesn’t get much lower than this. The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to reverse this decision and live up to our responsibility to take care of those who served us.”

Just before the VA announced the second mass firing, Senator Baldwin and a group of her colleagues called on the VA Secretary Doug Collins to immediately reinstate the more than 1,000 VA employees terminated recently who serve veterans and their families nationwide. The firing includes critical employees combatting veteran suicide working at the Veterans Crisis Line which Senator Baldwin championed in her legislation creating the three-digit 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

The Trump Administration’s mass terminations of VA employees, which included a substantive number of veterans and military spouses, comes at a time when VA faces critical staffing shortages and increased demand for its services, such as urgently needed mental health care to combat the veteran suicide rate. In addition, many of these terminated employees had exemplary performance records and multiple years of work experience in government service.

A full version of Baldwin’s letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Collins:  

Last week, we were outraged by the Administration’s abrupt and indiscriminate termination of tens of thousands of workers across almost every government agency, including more than 1,000 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees. We were further disturbed by the manner in which you publicly celebrated this reprehensible announcement – a clear departure from the assurances provided throughout your confirmation process to never “balance budgets on the back of veterans' benefits” and to always “put the veteran first.” Not only will this latest action put veterans’ care and benefits at risk, but it further confuses, demoralizes, and threatens a VA workforce we need to fulfill our nation’s sacred promise to our veterans and their families who have already sacrificed so much.

The more than 1,000 VA employees whose lives and careers you have upended included a substantial number of veterans and military spouses. Many had exemplary performance records. Because probationary employees tend to be younger, many of them represented the next generation of VA employees – talented men and women who chose a long-term career path of serving veterans. VA already invested in recruiting and training these individuals because veterans deserve the very best staff possible. And they all deserved better than to be casually discarded by an Administration that places a greater priority on political loyalty than fitness to serve.

You have repeatedly claimed these massive, arbitrary staff terminations – done without advance consultation with service-level leadership or advisement from experienced senior leaders trained to manage VA’s health care, benefits, and memorial workforce –– “will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries.” However, we have heard directly from VA employees and veterans across the country that this is absolutely not the case. In fact, we have been made aware of numerous detrimental developments as a direct result of the actions of this Administration. Openings for new clinics have been delayed because VA cannot hire the necessary staff to open their doors. Service lines at VA hospitals and clinics have been halted. Beds and operating rooms at VA facilities have been suspended. Support lines for caregivers have been reduced. Veterans Crisis Line employees have been fired, and suicide prevention training sessions have been postponed or canceled. And transportation options for disabled veterans, which help ensure veterans can attend regular health care appointments, have been cut back because volunteer drivers are now unable to get credentialed.

The list of real-life negative impacts of this Administration’s directives is expansive and growing every day. Rather than putting the interests of veterans first, you made your priorities abundantly clear in your statement applauding the mass firings: “At VA, we are focused on saving money.” It’s clear from the slashing of services and benefits this priority is coming directly at the expense of veterans.

With the best interests of veterans in mind, and to ensure VA is capable of carrying out its sacred obligation of behalf of veterans, we urge you to immediately reinstate all of the employees dismissed in the latest indiscriminate terminations and commit to VA employees and veterans that no additional widespread terminations will occur without advanced notification to Congress, a detailed justification, coordination with service-level leadership, and an appropriate assessment of potential impacts on veterans’ health care and benefits. Congress remains ready to collaborate with you, if you are willing to come to the table and put the needs of our veterans above all else.

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