(AFP) – President Donald Trump’s administration aims to cut some 80,000 jobs from the federal department overseeing veterans’ health care and other benefits, according to a memo obtained Wednesday by AFP. The move to downsize the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) brings Trump’s unprecedented cost-cutting efforts, led by billionaire adviser Elon Musk, into another sensitive area, with Democrats quick to pounce on the issue.
The VA, in concert with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will “identify and eliminate waste, reduce management and bureaucracy, reduce footprint, and increase workforce efficiency,” the memo says. “A portion of the savings garnered will be reinvested in the veterans we serve and the systems required to support our workforce and execute our mission,” it says. The initial aim is to return staffing at the VA — which is responsible for providing benefits including health care, education, and disability pay to veterans — to the 2019 level of 399,957 employees, according to the memo.
The VA said in early February it employed more than 479,000 people, meaning about 80,000 jobs would be cut under the plan. Some Democratic lawmakers slammed the planned cuts, including Representative Mark Takano of California, who said in a statement: “This deliberate dismantling of VA’s workforce… isn’t just dangerous — it’s an outright betrayal of veterans.”
“These cuts won’t just impact those seeking health care. They will create chaos across every aspect of VA — delaying benefits, straining claims processing, and making it nearly impossible for student veterans and schools to get the assistance they need.” Senator Patty Murray of Washington said it is “infuriating that two billionaires think they can fire tens of thousands of people responsible for administering the services and care that over nine million veterans across the country count on,” referring to Trump and Musk. “It’s flat-out immoral and a breach of the sacred commitment we make to our veterans to take care of them when they return home,” she said in a statement.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has launched a vast offensive aimed at slashing public spending and reducing the federal bureaucracy, one of the goals he promised on the campaign trail. To that end, he tapped Musk, a top campaign donor turned close adviser, to lead DOGE, which has cut thousands of government jobs and upended agencies — prompting numerous lawsuits. Among his first targets were members of the federal bureaucracy overseeing policies that promote diversity.
His administration has also sought to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID), ending many humanitarian and other support projects around the globe. And a source with knowledge of the situation told AFP on Tuesday that the Internal Revenue Service — responsible for collecting US federal taxes — is considering letting go up to half of its approximately 90,000 employees.
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