U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a resolution in the Senate today to reverse the federal government’s plan to fire 83,000 VA employees.
Sanders spoke on the Senate floor (below) and said: “What we have seen in the last month from the President and from Elon Musk is a chainsaw approach to essentially destroy the Veterans Administration. There are plans afoot, no one is debating the numbers, they want to fire 83,000 employees.”
Sanders said such action will result in a decline of quality healthcare for veterans and a delay in benefits.
During his five-minutes on the floor, Sanders noted that the VA reported 36,000 job vacancies in the fiscal year 2024 — before the second Trump administration took over the White House — “including 2,400 doctors, 6,300 registered nurses, 1,800 social workers, and 1,200 custodians.”
He added, “When you have a workforce shortage, the solution is not to fire 83,000 people — it is to add people.”
LIVE from the Senate Floor: We must stand together against Trump’s cruel and illogical firing of 83,000 VA employees.
That’s why, today, I am introducing a resolution calling on the VA to reverse their disastrous plan that will harm veterans. https://t.co/c33NSWsJpX
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 9, 2025
He quotes the organization Paralyzed Veterans of America, who said in a statement that they are “deeply troubled by the actions being taken in Washington DC that are already having a detrimental impact on the services that veterans with spinal cord injuries and disease like ALS and MS rely upon.”
Sanders concluded by saying the firing of 83,000 VA employees “is a prelude to the movement to privatize the VA,” an idea Musk favors.
Below is a video of Trump-appointed Secretary of Veteran Affairs Doug Collins providing a list of things his agency has accomplished in the past two months.
The first item he mentions is “getting rid of DEI,” and his decision to hang only the American flag, POW flag and service flags (not Pride flags). The second he mentions is “disability benefit backlog.”
It’s been about two months since I started at VA, and we’ve already made many improvements. But there is much more work to do for our great Veterans! pic.twitter.com/Z04tJyQKQy
— VA Secretary Doug Collins (@SecVetAffairs) April 4, 2025
Collins added, “Unfortunately many special interest groups, lawmakers and reporters don’t support any changes at the VA.”
He added, “They’re using rumor, innuendo and disinformation to spread fear in hopes that the department will maintain the dysfunctional status quo.”