Two liberal Democrat senators introduced legislation Monday requiring the Trump administration to rehire thousands of veterans laid off through the Department of Government Efficiency's efforts, led by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, to streamline the federal government.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a decorated combat veteran in the Iraq war and double amputee, and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., introduced the Protect Veteran Jobs Act, which is similar to legislation recently introduced in the House by Rep. Derek Tran, D-Calif.
The legislation would force the Trump administration to reinstate veterans affected by the recent layoffs, the Washington Examiner reported. It also would require the administration to provide a quarterly report to Congress on the number of veterans fired from the federal government, including a justification for their firing. It is not known whether the bill will gain any traction in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The Washington Post reported March 6 that roughly 6,000 veterans had been laid off in recent weeks by DOGE, citing federal data compiled by Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee. Approximately 30% of the federal civilian workforce is made up of veterans, the Examiner reported, citing September data from the Office of Personnel Management.
Duckworth said in a news release that "Donald Trump and Elon Musk have fired more Veterans than any administration in our nation's history," although nearly 8,000 active-duty and reserve service members reportedly were discharged by the Biden administration for not complying to a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The Department of Veterans Affairs reportedly is planning to cut 80,000 jobs to reduce its workforce to just below 400,000, which is where it was in 2019. The Biden administration added tens of thousands of jobs, including through the 2022 PACT Act, which expanded coverage to veterans affected by burn pits.
"Veterans who choose to continue their service to our country in the federal workforce deserve our utmost gratitude, but instead, this administration has kicked thousands of our heroes to the curb and left them without a paycheck," Duckworth said. "The message of our bill is simple: Give our heroes their jobs back. If Republicans really care about our veterans, they should stop enabling Trump and Musk's chaos and support our legislation."
Newsmax reached out to the VA and the White House for comment.
In an editorial for The Hill last week, VA Secretary Doug Collins said he wanted to slash his department's workforce by 15% to 398,000.
"We will accomplish this without making cuts to healthcare or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries," Collins wrote.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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