Trump's mebagill threatens to make life harder for vets. Now they're fighting back.
For six long months, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have put America's 16 million veterans through the emotional wringer. Thousands of veterans have already lost their jobs because of Trump's mass firings of federal workers, and many more will follow. One internal Department of Veterans Affairs memo suggests up to 80,000 more job cuts are on the way.
That pain is likely to get worse in the coming months, as experts warn that Trump's latest round of planned cuts will leave struggling VA hospitals in 'crisis' as staffing levels shrink and care levels fall.
It's fitting that frustrated veterans chose June 6 — D-Day — as the moment to take a stand, as they hold a nationwide rally that advocacy group Unite4Veterans describes as one of the largest rallies of military service members in decades . Like D-Day once did, Friday's rally has the potential to reshape the political landscape ahead of the upcoming midterm election. Faced with the reality of Trump's destructive VA policies, America's troops are questioning their traditionally deep Republican loyalties at a level we've never seen before. Congressional Republicans, take note.
'Veterans were told our service would be honored, that we'd be taken care of when we came home,' said Christopher Purdy, the founder and CEO of The Chamberlain Network who also served in Iraq with the Army National Guard. 'The same lawmakers who made those promises are backing budgets that would gut the systems veterans rely on. It sends a message: veterans are useful as symbols, but expendable when it comes to actual policy.'
Part of veterans' frustration comes from the fact that the VA's size and complexity make it a tough place to cut jobs. With nearly 500,000 employees spread across 170 hospitals and 1,200 local clinics, the VA is the nation's largest health care system. Because it's spread across every state and territory, a decision made in Washington can lead to job vacancies in Utah, where few replacement specialists exist. Luring out-of-state clinicians to rural areas can be time consuming and expensive, leading to a wave of canceled appointments and delayed treatments as hospitals scramble to cope.
None of this is a secret to the Republican lawmakers dangling a sword above thousands of VA workers. Emails written by VA hospital workers and reviewed by ProPublica warn of service cuts for the roughly 9 million veterans who use the department's medical services. One staffer in Pennsylvania warned of 'severe and immediate impacts' including some veterans losing access to lifesaving clinical trials.
The GOP's 'Big Beautiful Bill' promises to make life harder for service members even if they don't make use of VA medical services. Twenty-five percent of active-duty service members report facing food insecurity and chronic hunger, compared to just 10% of the general population. One Defense Department report found that more than 22,000 troops use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which Trump's budget wants to shove onto cash-strapped states. For most veterans on the program, those cuts will make it even harder to feed their families.
The word 'betrayal' comes up a lot in conversations with veterans' advocates, especially when they talk to veterans who have watched with dismay as Republicans rebrand their earned benefits as government handouts. Those veterans backed Republicans in 2024 by a nearly 2 to 1 margin, only to find a growing number of GOP lawmakers refusing to even hear their concerns. Democrats have noticed veterans' rising frustrations, too, and hope to channel that discontent into a new electoral coalition. It won't be as easy as simply thanking the troops for their service.
'Veterans can tell the difference between symbolic gestures and real commitment,' Purdy told me. 'Veterans understand what it means to serve this country more than most, and we pay attention. When politicians start tearing apart the very systems we fought to defend, it's going to have consequences.'
Friday's Washington rally prominently features Democrats with military backgrounds, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, former Rep. Conor Lamb and retired Rear Adm. Mike Smith. Meanwhile, Army veteran and California Rep. Derek Tran is turning the fight to reinstate veterans fired by Trump into signature media issues.
As veterans fill the streets of major cities in a public display of anger at Trump's mismanagement, Democrats have a rare opportunity to connect with voters who are normally out of reach. Letting the party's veterans take the lead is a smart first step. They can press that advantage by recruiting even more veterans as congressional candidates in 2026.
'I haven't had anyone from any party reach out to me before this whole fiasco,' said Shernice Mundell, an Air Force veteran and former federal health care specialist. A mother of three, Mundell lost her job at the Office of Personnel Management when Trump laid off thousands of federal workers. Now she's considering running for Congress.
After years spent taking veterans' votes for granted, Republican lawmakers are discovering that it is possible to ask too much of America's fighting men and women. Veterans are already frustrated enough to organize and mobilize. If the GOP keeps cutting core VA services, millions of those troops will march their way to the ballot box next November to do some firings of their own.
'There are changes that need to be made and we have to step up and make that happen,' Mundell told me. 'If not us, then who?'
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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