Vets hope thousands will rally against VA cuts in nationwide protests
Veterans organizations will hold a day of protests in various cities and at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities around the country on Friday, June 6, headlined by a rally in Washington, D.C. that will feature the punk and activist band Dropkick Murphys.
The protests, say organizers of the D.C. event, are aimed at speaking out against expected staffing cuts to the VA, which they say will greatly impact care for veterans.
'We want to have a big tent for this. Veterans Affairs affects more than 14 million American veterans, of every political stripe and from every socio-economic background,' Joe Plenzler, a Marine veteran, told Task & Purpose. Plenzler has previously written opinion essays for Task & Purpose about veteran issues.
Along with the Washington, D.C. rally, online organizers have plans for over 200 other events at VA facilities in nearly every state, coinciding with the 81st anniversary of D-Day and the invasion of Normandy.
Organizers of the D.C. event, dubbed the Unite for Veterans rally, say they expect several thousand people to turn out on the National Mall for the 2 p.m. event. Plenzler, one of the event's organizers, told Task & Purpose the rally will feature several prominent veterans as speakers, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America CEO Kyleanne Hunter, and Shawn Vandiver, founder of AfghanEvac, a non-profit that works to resettle Afghans in the United States.
The organizers acknowledged that the millions of veterans in the United States can have disparate political views, but one unifying aspect behind the rally is a demand that VA care and services not be diminished.
'We want to have a big tent for this. Veterans Affairs affects more than 14 million American veterans, of every political stripe and from every socio-economic background,' Plenzler said.
Plenzler said that the prospect of severe staffing cuts could both reduce care and also cost many vets their jobs, since a third of all federal employees are veterans.
'If you go into the VA, upwards of 25% of their employees are veterans. It's veterans caring for veterans,' he said.
For its part, the VA has repeatedly claimed that personnel cuts won't impact care.
In a statement to Task & Purpose, VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said that 'anyone who says VA is cutting health care and benefits is not being honest. In fact, VA is expanding health care and benefits.'
The proposed cuts, first reported by the Associated Press, would amount to a 15% reduction of the department's workforce. VA Secretary Douglas Collins described the number as a 'goal' rather than a fixed plan last month.
Kasperowicz also accused rally organizers of opposing necessary reforms on political grounds.
'Imagine how much better off veterans would be if this union-led group cared as much about fixing the department as it does about protecting VA's broken bureaucracy,' Kasperowicz said.
Sen. Duckworth, in a statement to Task & Purpose, said that she was outraged at the administration's policies towards veterans.
'Donald Trump has fired more veterans than any president in modern history, and by gutting the VA he is hurting our veterans' access to the quality health care and other benefits they've earned through their service,' she said.
Dusty Gannon, an Army officer who served in Afghanistan as a platoon leader, said he was planning on going to the rally because he sees a disconnect between how veterans in the U.S. are venerated and how they're cared for.
'We have this whole [generation] of veterans who fought in all of these conflicts who are all coming home, and the government is failing us,' he said. 'They've just left us high and dry.'
Gannon said he hopes the rally will be a chance to meet and spend time with fellow veterans who understand the 'gravity of the experience,' he said.
Nationally, organizers are tracking the times and locations of rallies on a central online spreadsheet.
Navy SEAL Team 6 operator will be the military's new top enlisted leader
Veterans receiving disability payments might have been underpaid, IG finds
Guam barracks conditions are 'baffling,' Navy admiral says in email
Navy fires admiral in charge of unmanned systems office after investigation
The Pentagon wants troops to change duty stations less often
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Chad announces suspension of visas to US citizens in response to Trump travel ban
N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) — Chad's President Mahamat Idriss Deby has announced that his country will suspend the issuing of visas to U.S. citizens in response to the Trump administration's decision to ban Chadians from visiting the United States. President Donald Trump on Wednesday resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term when he announced the visa ban on 12 countries including Chad, accusing them of having 'deficient' screening and vetting, and historically refusing to take back their own citizens who overstay in the United States. The new ban targets Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. There will also be heightened restrictions on visitors from seven others in the new travel policy, which takes effect Monday at 12:01 a.m. In a Facebook post, Chad's president on Thursday said he is directing his government to suspend visas to U.S. citizens 'in accordance with the principles of reciprocity.' 'Chad has no planes to offer, no billions of dollars to give but Chad has his dignity and pride,' Deby said, referring to the $400 million luxury plane offered to his administration as a gift by the ruling family of Qatar. Republic of Congo calls the ban a mistake The new travel policy has triggered varied reactions from Africa, whose countries make up seven of the 12 countries affected by Trump's outright visa ban with some exemptions. In the Republic of Congo, government spokesperson Thierry Moungalla said he believes the country was among those affected because of a 'misunderstanding' over an armed attack in the U.S. with the perpetrators 'mistaken' to be from the Republic of Congo. 'Obviously, Congo is not a terrorist country, is not home to any terrorist, is not known to have a terrorist vocation. So we think that this is a misunderstanding and I believe that in the coming hours, the competent diplomatic services of the government will contact the American authorities here,' he said in the capital of Brazzaville. In Sierra Leone, among countries with heightened travel restrictions, Information Minister Chernor Bah said the country is committed to addressing the concerns that prompted the ban.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
‘60 Minutes' correspondent Scott Pelley warns a CBS settlement with Trump would be ‘very damaging'
'60 Minutes' correspondent Scott Pelley spoke out about President Donald Trump's lawsuit against CBS and its parent company on Saturday, arguing that a settlement would be 'very damaging.' 'Well, it'd be very damaging to CBS, to Paramount, to the reputation of those companies,' Pelley said during a conversation with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Saturday, who asked how harmful a settlement and potential apology would be to the network. Trump filed a lawsuit against Paramount Global, CBS News' parent company, over a '60 Minutes' interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris in October 2024. Fox News Digital confirmed that Trump rejected a $15 million offer to settle his lawsuit, according to a source familiar with the matter, as the president's legal team is also demanding at least $25 million and an apology from CBS News. Cooper, who is also a correspondent on '60 Minutes,' also asked Pelley about former show producer Bill Owens resigning from the program in April. 'Bill's decision to resign may not have been much of a decision for him because he was always the first person to defend the independence of '60 minutes.' Bill didn't work for Paramount. Bill worked for our viewers, and he felt very keenly about that. And so I'm not sure Bill had any choice, once the corporation began to meddle in Bill's decisions about the editorial content, or just place pressure in that area, Bill felt that he didn't have the independence that honest journalism requires,' Pelley said. 4 Scott Pelley warned that a settlement between President Trump and CBS would be 'very damaging.' 4 President Trump rejected a $15 million offer to settle his lawsuit, according to Fox News Digital. AP Pelley also said he wished he had the public backing of CBS News, but added that his work was still making it onto the program. 'You really wish the company was behind you 100%, right? You really wish the top echelons of the company would come out publicly and say '60 Minutes', for example, is a crown jewel of American journalism, and we stand behind it 100%. I haven't heard that. On the other hand, my work is getting on the air, and I have not had anyone outside '60 Minutes' put their thumb on the scale and say, 'you can't say that. You should say this. You have to edit the story in this way. You should interview this person.' None of that has happened. So while I would like to have that public backing, maybe the more important thing is the work is still getting on the air,' Pelley said. 4 The Federal Communications Commission accused '60 Minutes' of heavily editing an interview with Kamala Harris in 2024. 60 Minutes / CBS 4 Former show producer Bill Owens resigned from the program in April. The '60 Minutes' correspondent recently went viral for calling out Trump during a commencement address. 'In this moment, this moment, this morning, our sacred rule of law is under attack. Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack,' Pelley said during his commencement speech at Wake Forest University. 'And insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes and into our private thoughts, the fear to speak in America. If our government is, in Lincoln's phrase, 'Of the people, by the people, for the people,' then why are we afraid to speak?' Pelley addressed the remarks during the CNN interview and told Cooper that he felt 'strongly' it needed to be said. 'I don't refer to him or the president or the White House or the administration. But I was talking about actions that have been taken by the government over these last many months. But, there was a little bit of hysteria among some about this speech, and I simply ask you, what does it say about our country when there's hysteria about a speech that's about freedom of speech?' the CBS correspondent added.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump's new travel ban takes effect as tensions escalate over immigration enforcement
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday amid rising tension over the president's escalating campaign of immigration enforcement. The new proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the U.S. and don't hold a valid visa. The new ban does not revoke visas previously issued to people from countries on the list, according to guidance issued Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions. However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting Monday. Travelers with previously issued visas should still be able to enter the U.S. even after the ban takes effect. While many of the listed countries send few people to the United States, Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela had been major sources of immigration in recent years. Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was at the airport Sunday in Newark, New Jersey, awaiting a flight to her home state of Florida, said many Haitians wanting to come to the U.S. are simply seeking to escape violence and unrest. Haitians continue to flee poverty and hunger while police and a U.N.-backed mission fight a surge in gang violence, with armed men controlling at least 85% of its capital, Port-au-Prince. 'I have family in Haiti, so it's pretty upsetting to see and hear,' Louis-Juste, 23, said of the travel ban. 'I don't think it's a good thing. I think it's very upsetting.' Many immigration experts say the new ban is designed to beat court challenges by focusing on the visa application process and appears more carefully crafted than a hastily written executive order during Trump's first term that denied entry to citizens of mainly Muslim countries. Trump said this time that some countries had 'deficient' screening for passports and other public documents or have historically refused to take back their own citizens. He relied extensively on an annual Homeland Security report of people who remain in the U.S. after their visas expired. Measuring overstay rates has challenged experts for decades, but the government has made a limited attempt annually since 2016. Trump's proclamation cites overstay rates for eight of the 12 banned countries. Trump also tied the new ban to a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it underscored the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas. U.S. officials say the man charged in the attack overstayed a tourist visa. He is from Egypt, a country that is not on Trump's restricted list. The ban was quickly denounced by groups that provide aid and resettlement help to refugees. 'This policy is not about national security — it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,' said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, a nonprofit international relief organization. The inclusion of Afghanistan angered some supporters who have worked to resettle its people. The ban does make exceptions for Afghans on Special Immigrant Visas, generally people who worked most closely with the U.S. government during the two-decade-long war there. Afghanistan had been one of the largest sources of resettled refugees, with about 14,000 arrivals in a 12-month period through September 2024. Trump suspended refugee resettlement his first day in office.
