- 2 years ago
Democrats on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) warn of DOGE cuts to the VA.
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NewsTranscript
00:00was unlawful and we know that these reckless firings at the VA are not only harmful but illegal
00:10including the 2400 already terminated at the VA and the potential for 80,000 or more
00:20that have been targeted by Elon Musk, Donald Trump and Secretary Collins.
00:26And all I can say as a former prosecutor and state attorney general is that I urge
00:35Secretary Collins and the Trump administration to comply with this court order.
00:39Failure to do so would be the height of irresponsibility and lawlessness.
00:44But we need to keep fighting for all of the dedicated veterans and the public servants
00:54who provide services to them by passing the Putting Veterans First Act. That's why we're here
01:06and I am grateful as well to Senator Gallego for joining us and others on the VA committee
01:14of the Democrats who have joined as co-sponsors. This measure is a comprehensive
01:21set of steps to put back to work veterans who have been illegally fired, make sure that the VA
01:30is properly staffed, provide protections in the future to veterans who may be in fear of illegal
01:39firings. The fact is that this bill is a call to action at a moment of crisis for all of our
01:49veterans. The VA's system of health care and benefits has been disastrously
01:56and disgracefully put on the chopping block by the Trump administration. Elon Musk's heartless
02:04and heartbreaking cuts, freezes and firings are not just bad for the people who have been
02:11immediately affected, but for all of the veterans suffering real-life impacts. And we are seeing
02:19those impacts in real time. Surgeries that have been denied or delayed, the veteran crisis line
02:31whose lines have been unanswered, the social work that is not provided to veterans,
02:40all of it in real time right now. So this measure is absolutely urgent now and it would put back to
02:54work, rehire all the veterans who have been fired in all of the agencies of the federal government,
03:04rehire all of the employees of the VA who have been illegally discharged, provide everyone in
03:13the future with specific standards that have to be used by the VA's leadership, standards based
03:24on individual performance, not we don't like you anymore, but specifically attuned to the
03:33performance of anyone who is fired. And an appeals process for those employees, as well as protection
03:42of their data and information and all of the veterans' data and information in the VA files.
03:49Mental health services for anybody who is discharged. And this kind of protection should
03:54be not only for the veterans, but for military spouses, members of the National Guard and
04:00Reserve, survivors, and veteran caregivers. This measure is the first comprehensive protection for
04:08veterans against these abusive practices. And my hope is that it will be bipartisan because there's
04:16nothing about veterans' issues that should be partisan. The fact is, Elon Musk is disrespecting
04:24our veterans, disregarding their rights, disastrously putting them in jeopardy of
04:33lack of health care, lack of benefits, even after the PAC Act, when we came together on
04:41a bipartisan base. And let me just say one more point. There are now close to 40,000
04:49vacant positions in the VA, including more than 6,000 nurses, 2,500 doctors,
04:581,200 custodians, positions that the VA is trying to fill through recruitment.
05:05And at the same time, it's firing exactly those same kinds of people. How is it possibly going
05:12to recruit the doctors, the nurses, the social workers, when it is firing them without reason,
05:20without basis, to the detriment of veterans? It is a disgrace, it is shameful,
05:26and a disservice to all who have worn the uniform and who will wear it in the future.
05:38With that, let me turn to my colleague, Senator Sanders.
05:43Thank you, Senator Blumenthal, and thank you for your great work as the ranking member and
05:46your authorship of this important legislation. As Senator Blumenthal just mentioned,
05:56despite progress under the Biden administration, in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024,
06:04the VA reported over 36,000 vacancies at the Veterans Health Administration,
06:13including 2,400 doctors, 6,300 registered nurses, 1,800 social workers, 3,400 schedulers,
06:24and 1,200 custodians. In other words, the agency was already short-staffed.
06:33Yet, as we speak, Elon Musk and Donald Trump are trying to dismantle the VA by laying off an
06:41additional 83,000 employees. Despite today's court decision, they have already fired 2,500
06:51probationary employees at the VA, many of them disabled veterans themselves.
06:58All across our country, people are shaking their heads and they're asking, how does it happen
07:08that the wealthiest person in the world, a guy worth hundreds of billions of dollars,
07:15is making life more difficult? It's sacrificing the health and well-being
07:21of veterans of this country, the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend us.
07:28But it's not just Americans all over the country. The veterans community itself,
07:34representing millions of people who put the uniform on, they're asking the same questions.
07:42And that is why the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the VFW, has recently said, and I quote,
07:48we call upon VA to reconsider its planned reduction of 83,000 employees and thoroughly
07:58review any proposed cuts before rolling out further announcements like this.
08:03End of quote. I agree with the VFW. The paralyzed veterans of America
08:11said that they are, quote, deeply troubled by actions being taken in Washington, D.C.
08:20that are already having a detrimental impact on the services that veterans with spinal cord
08:26injuries and diseases like ALS and MS rely upon. End of quote. The disabled American veterans said,
08:35quote, we are extremely concerned about the leaked proposal to arbitrarily eliminate
08:4380,000 VA employees. Our hearts are with the many veterans who are or will be losing their jobs.
08:52We worry about service disabled veterans with small businesses who may be devastated by
08:57canceled contracts, particularly if they impact services to our community. But foremost,
09:04we are concerned for the veterans who are contacting us with fear and anxiety
09:09about the future of the benefit services and health care they rely on. That is what the
09:16Veterans Organizations of America are saying. And let us not forget, as Senator Blumenthal mentioned,
09:23nearly 900,000 civilian federal employees are either veteran spouses or veterans or spouses
09:30of active military members representing 30 percent of the entire federal government workforce.
09:38An estimated 6,000 veterans have been fired across the entire federal workforce so far,
09:44and more are likely to be fired if we don't take a stand. In defending these layoffs, the VA has
09:52stated that the personnel moves will save the department more than 181 million dollars a year.
10:00181 million dollars. Well, guess what? The Trump administration, as we speak, is proposing to
10:07provide the wealthiest people in this country with over 1 trillion dollars in tax breaks over a
10:1510-year period. In other words, they are sacrificing the needs of veterans who put their lives on the
10:21line to defend our country in order to make billionaires like Elon Musk even richer. And that
10:29is a trade-off that the American people, whether you're Republican, Democrat, or Independent, do not
10:36support. So let us be clear. We have got to go forward in a bipartisan way, as Senator Blumenthal
10:44just said. This is not a Democrat issue. It's not a Republican issue. This is an American issue.
10:49Today, we tell Elon Musk that the people of America stand with the veterans, the heroes,
10:56and heroines who defended us, and we're going to protect their interests. Thank you.
11:01Thank you. Well done. Senator Gallego.
11:06Well, thank you. You know, as a veteran, an Iraq veteran, a proud Marine, I worry because
11:15what is about to happen with these cuts will cause veterans to die. There's just no other
11:21denying that. Elon Musk's decisions and Donald Trump's decisions to arbitrarily cut veterans
11:26from their jobs is going to increase depression. It's going to increase potentially suicides. We
11:32know what's going to happen if you cut VA services, not just the workers, but the services.
11:38Because I saw it happen when I first got back from the war. When we first got back in 2005,
11:43it was nearly impossible for us to find room at the VA. We couldn't find the therapists to help us.
11:50I lost many of the guys I served with to suicide. Some are still luckily alive, but are still
11:56struggling with alcoholism, have seen their times in jail. And some that have succeeded have found
12:03service and a reason to live and fight because they went and worked for a mission-oriented job
12:09working for the federal government. And for someone like Elon Musk and a bunch of 20-year-old
12:15brats who have zero understanding of what sacrifice for country means, to just go and
12:22tell these men and women one more time that the country is throwing you aside. We don't need you.
12:29Don't worry about, you know, collecting another paycheck. Don't worry about having health insurance
12:33at the end of the year. Don't worry about how you're going to pay rent. You've sacrificed your mind,
12:38your body, your youth for this country. You came and worked for this country. And because this dude
12:44wants billions and billions of dollars, we're going to cut these men and women off. And it
12:49doesn't have to be that way. We can find efficiencies while still making sure we're
12:54saving the lives of veterans. We can find savings while at the same time making sure veterans have
13:01fulfilling and rich careers in serving their country. And we don't have to be assholes about it
13:07and firing them overnight just so we could find savings that it's not going to end up back in the
13:11VA. And for someone to say, oh, this is going to save $100 million. What was it? $180 million.
13:17That's not going to be a savings because it's going to cost even more because it's going to
13:23take longer to fix the problems. The longer a man or woman, a veteran goes without PTSD
13:30treatment because they can't find the therapist means it's going to take longer for them to get
13:36the help they need, that they're going to actually be able to go back and be functional and be a good
13:40member of society and work. The longer someone has to put off a surgery because you can't find
13:45the nurses or the doctors, it means that that surgery is going to be more complicated,
13:51potentially more dangerous, and at the end, more expensive. And it doesn't have to be this way.
13:58One of the worst feelings you have when I got back from the war, me and my guys, we were
14:05reservists and they just, our end date was done and they stopped paying us. No one offered us
14:12jobs. Some of us were homeless. And the worst feeling that we had was that everything we
14:19had just sacrificed for the government, for the country, in some of the hardest combat of the war,
14:26they just threw us aside because we weren't convenient anymore. We couldn't fit the bottom
14:33line of the DOD. They couldn't find one more month to house us on base. They couldn't give us
14:37one more paycheck. It was the worst feeling that you could ever have as a veteran. And we're doing
14:42that right now to thousands of veterans, both at the VA, people that are going to the services,
14:49and veterans that have been working across this country, dedicating their time away from family
14:55and dedicating just their whole soul and life to this country. And we have just said,
15:00we don't want you anymore. You are no longer convenient for us. Go away. That's what Donald
15:06Trump is doing. That's what the United Nations is doing. And they're only doing it so they could
15:09give their buddies a tax cut. That is shameful. And it's a sin against this country that we're
15:15allowing that to happen. Please support this bill. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Any questions?
15:24Senator, if there's a government shutdown, do you think that could speed up some of the things
15:27that the Trump administration does want to do with VA employees in terms of cutting personnel,
15:32services, programs, et cetera? You know, I'm not going to speculate on what the
15:40Trump administration might do in case of a government shutdown. This continuing resolution
15:47also creates a kind of slush fund for Donald Trump and may give him unbridled discretion so
15:56they are both potential licenses for illegal action on the part of Donald Trump. What's
16:04important now is to pass legislation that protects veterans. We're protecting veterans
16:12to make sure they get the services they need and deserve in health care, in disability benefits.
16:19They depend on both. And we want expedited action for this legislation because it's the
16:26only way to guarantee that they will be kept on the job serving fellow veterans.
16:34And I just want to emphasize a point that Bernie made. You know, the most powerful voices and faces
16:43for this legislation are veterans. We got two Marines here, Marine Corps Reserve,
16:52and there are the veteran service organizations that came before our committee. And the Veterans
16:59of Foreign Wars, Commander in Chief, said to us, stop the bleeding. Stop the bleeding.
17:08That's what I tell my colleagues in the United States Senate and in the Congress. We need to
17:15stop the bleeding. And whether it's a shutdown or a continuing resolution, this legislation
17:21is absolutely necessary to stop the bleeding. It is literally a matter of life and death,
17:27not just in the hospitals where veterans are waiting for surgery, where doctors and nurses
17:34can't do what they need to provide to our veterans, but also the PAC Act, where veterans
17:41are dependent on the disability benefits to live, put food on the table, pay their rent and
17:49compensate for their disabilities resulting from exposure to the burn pits and other toxic chemicals.
17:56Can I just say one thing? I don't know what Trump's going to do, but I can tell you right
18:01now this is the most anti-veteran administration in the history of this country. But I know what's
18:06in the CR. In the CR, there's more than a billion dollar cuts to veteran benefits. Clearly stated,
18:13the Republican Party is pushing a budget, not a CR because this thing is brand new,
18:18that is more than a billion dollar cuts to veterans. So I know for a fact I will not vote
18:25for something that cuts veteran services. And that's what's in that bill. Whether it passes,
18:29whether it not, whether we go to shutdown, what Trump decides to do, he has to decide.
18:33But I will not take part in knowingly cutting more than a billion dollars from the VA. And that's
18:40just the start. There is a lot more they could do if we give them that power. Thank you. I gotta head
18:44out. Question for Senator Sanders. Given the billion dollars in cuts to veteran benefits in
18:49the House past CR, what are you advising your Senate colleagues to do on that vote, on that
18:54six-month bill, if the alternative is a possible shutdown? No. I think what Senator Gallego just
19:02said is right. Let's be clear. This bill, for the first time in modern history, the CR was not
19:12written by representatives of both parties. It wasn't the Senate and the House coming together.
19:17It was written by right-wing House Republicans who managed to get it passed in the House by
19:24a few votes. I think what has got to happen right now is that we prevent the government
19:30from shutting down by passing a 30-day CR that will allow all sides to come together to work out
19:40a budget that works for all people rather than just the billionaire class.
19:45And you have three no votes on the CR. I've got to run. I've got to be on the floor. Okay.
19:51Take it. Thank you all for being here. Yeah. Earlier this week, you said that you're not
19:57getting a lot of information from the VA about these firings. Has anything improved in the last
20:02few days? Have you gotten any more clarity on how many veterans? Crickets. This VA is the most
20:10unresponsive of any that I've seen in my time here. It is the least transparent, but it's
20:17opening its files to Elon Musk so that he can rummage through them, harvest personal,
20:24confidential, private information, including potentially health care information. And this
20:30bill would stop it. It would give veterans rights against that kind of invasion and intrusive
20:38conduct and abuse of power. And, you know, we know for sure Elon Musk has never worn
20:46any uniform. Donald Trump thinks veterans are suckers. That's the mentality of this
20:53administration. That's the disrespect it has for veterans. And that's why this legislation
20:57is necessary. Thanks everyone.