Braxton Taylor
Veterans are planning a massive rally in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere June 6 to protest cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs and call for the protection of veterans’ benefits and jobs, which they say are being hurt by the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.
The Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally, scheduled for the 81st anniversary of D-Day, aims to be a nonpartisan call to preserve veterans’ jobs and benefits and promote the protection of democratic principles, according to its organizers, the Unite for Veterans Coalition, a group of veterans from various advocacy organizations.
Will Attig, executive director of the Union Veterans Council at the AFL-CIO, said Tuesday that with nearly 30% of the federal workforce made up of veterans, the proposed job cuts will disproportionately affect that population.
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Attig said the plan is for veterans, family members and anyone who supports the armed forces to march in support of former service members who work for the federal government or believe in the preservation of VA benefits.
“No one wants to see thousands of veterans fired,” Attig said during an interview with Military.com on Tuesday. “Any administration that would do these things needs to be reminded that the veterans’ voice is strong, and the American people support us.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs wants to reduce its workforce by roughly 80,000 employees by the end of the year, a move that VA Secretary Doug Collins has claimed will cut costs and increase efficiency and will not affect veterans’ medical services or provision of benefits.
During an interview Wednesday with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Collins said no jobs had been cut yet but said that since 2015, the department has added “hundreds of billions in money and hundreds of thousands in positions,” creating a large bureaucracy that doesn’t best serve veterans.
“There are a lot of jobs at the VA that have nothing to do with patient care and nothing to do with disability claims,” Collins said. “We gotta do better with what we got.”
Earlier this year, the VA reduced its workforce by 2,400, firing employees who had been at the department for less than one or two years and had not yet earned civil service protections. Tens of thousands of other workers across the federal government have either lost their jobs or work at agencies targeted for massive cuts by billionaire Elon Musk at the behest of President Donald Trump.
Collins added that eliminating hundreds of contracts in the past two months — largely consulting and administrative support contracts, according to the VA — has enabled him to move $360 million to veterans outreach for community care, the VA’s program for providing health services to veterans through private, non-VA providers.
The Unite for Veterans Coalition members argue, however, that cuts to the VA not only will affect veterans who lose their jobs, but will affect the VA’s ability to take care of veterans, conduct medical research and provide a platform to train the country’s physicians, roughly 70% of whom have trained at a VA facility.
“We’re not opposed to government efficiency and modernization and things like that. There’s a way to do it. There’s a way not to do it, and we’ve got to realize that,” Attig said.
The Musk and Trump firings of workers and unilateral cuts to federal agencies has caused widespread chaos and confusion, with staff, managers and the public largely left in the dark about the future of programs and positions at places such as the Defense Department, IRS, National Park Service, Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Education.
They have also triggered numerous lawsuits, which have put some job terminations on hold.
Veterans are now pushing back against the firings. The largest upcoming event is being organized for 2 p.m. in Washington, D.C., on June 6, but the coalition is expecting similar marches to be held at state capitals across the country.
They envision a “patriotic” theme at the events, “rooted in Americanism and veterans,” according to Attig.
Chris Purdy, CEO of the Chamberlain Network, an advocacy group that works to involve veterans in civic engagement and local and state politics, said the event will be a nonpartisan opportunity for veterans to show the value they bring to the country.
“This is not an anti-Trump protest. … This is not about an individual. This is about an idea that we need to take care of our service members, people who fought for this country and just want to keep serving this country and have access to the benefits that they are owed,” Purdy said during an interview Tuesday.
Attig said discussions are in the works with veteran organizers and speakers, “famous bands” and “a few celebrities” to appear at the event but could not say whom, given that the planning is in the early stages.
Veteran groups and organizations interested in joining the coalition can contact the group through its website.
VA officials requested more information on the rally in response to questions from Military.com but did not provide comment by publication.
Related: ‘These Are Human Beings’: VA Fires 1,400 More Employees It Considers Nonessential
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