'Unthinkable': 'Massive layoffs at VA' as Trump tries to balance tax-cuts for the rich off the backs of veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced major layoffs on Thursday, a move condemned by Democratic lawmakers, veterans and experts. As President Donald Trump and Elon Musk look to slash the federal government, the layoffs — amounting to more than 1,000 people — will reportedly save the department more than $98 million annually, according to a press release.

“I’m happy to partner with [the Department of Government Efficiency] to find things we need to get rid of so we can put the money where it belongs… back with our Veterans,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins said.

“The dismissals announced today are part of a government-wide Trump Administration effort to make agencies more efficient, effective and responsive to the American People,” according to the press release.

Veteran Scott Peoples told ABC11 he was bothered by "just the way they've gone about it and just taking a wrecking ball to the federal government and creating chaos everywhere and not having a plan of maybe phasing out certain jobs or letting people know.”

Veterans have supported Trump, with about 60 percent backing him in 2024.

CBS News Justice Correspondent Scott MacFarlane called the move “a once unthinkable concept for an agency that operates 100+ major hospitals and many hundreds more clinics and processes veterans benefits in a post on X.

“Massive layoffs of VA employees – including nurses, doctors, and positions already facing critical shortages nationwide – is nothing more than an attempt to balance the budget on the back of veterans. It is reprehensible to target recently hired federal employees – particularly those who have chosen to serve veterans,” Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told MacFarlane.

“I’m hearing from longtime VA researchers in my home state of Washington who are right now being told to immediately stop their research and pack their bags,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said in a statement, “not because their work isn’t desperately needed, but because Trump and Elon have decided to fire these researchers on a whim.”

“You’re basically harassing your own workforce at the end of the day,” Paul Light, an expert on the federal government and professor emeritus of public service at New York University, told the Guardian regarding layoffs at federal agencies. “You’re undermining the engine that you want to run.”

Collins said the change would not affect services for veterans.

“At VA, we are focused on saving money so it can be better spent on Veteran care. We thank these employees for their service to VA. This was a tough decision, but ultimately it’s the right call to better support the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors the department exists to serve,”he said in a statement. “To be perfectly clear: these moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”

'There will be pain': How Trump tax giveaways to the rich hurt small businesses and working people

There Will Be Pain is the matter-of-fact title of a Thursday report from Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). It details how extending the expiring provisions from the tax law that Republican lawmakers passed and Trump signed in 2017 "will have painful trade-offs for the U.S. economy and most Americans."

"The U.S. 'fiscal gap'—how much taxes need to be raised or spending cut to keep public debt stable as a share of gross domestic product—was entirely created by the Republican tax cuts of 2001, 2003, and 2017," Bivens wrote. "The 'tax gap'—the amount of taxes owed but not paid each year—is currently larger than the overall fiscal gap. It is driven by the richest U.S. households and businesses cheating the law and underpaying taxes."

Extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provisions, currently set to expire at the end of this year, "would increase the fiscal gap by nearly 50%, from 2.1% to 3.3%," Bivens explained. "No matter how these tax cuts are financed, the result will hurt most working families, especially low-income households."

"Cuts to key social insurance and income support programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly called food stamps) or Medicaid would do substantial damage to the nation's future workforce by depriving millions of children today of key health and developmental supports," he warned.

"Further, cuts of this size, if phased in quickly, would at minimum require the Federal Reserve to aggressively cut interest rates to avoid a recession," Bivens continued, "and could quite easily overwhelm any attempt by the Fed to buffer the economy from their effect, leading to recession and job losses."

Bivens argued that "expanding public investment and raising federal revenue via taxes that mostly come from high-income households is the most optimal way to close fiscal gap, boost economic productivity, and produce a fairer economy."

"If TCJA expansions for the rich are inevitable, this leaves three options: running deficits, increasing regressive taxes (in the form of tariffs, for example), or spending cuts," he added. "While none of these options is ideal, running deficits has the potential to be less harmful for American families, whereas regressive taxation and spending cuts will categorically cause the most harm."

The survey shows that just 3% of small business owners hired more workers as a result of the TCJA, 6% increased investments or employee wages, and 9% were able to pay down debts. Meanwhile, 43% reported no positive impact from the 2017 law.

The coalition found that small business owners are critical of the U.S. tax code in general and the TCJA specifically. Of those surveyed, 91% of said the tax code "favors large corporations over small businesses" and 76% report that wealthy individuals and big companies benefited most from the 2017 law, which critics have long called the "GOP Tax Scam."

"Americans might not always see eye to eye, but one thing's clear: Nearly every voter—across party lines—wants to protect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and SNAP," said Groundwork Collaborative. "Meanwhile, the GOP is pushing to gut them for even more tax breaks for the wealthy."