During a Senate Democrats press briefing on Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke about the Trump Administration's proposed mass layoffs at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you for your great work as the ranking member and your authorship of this important
00:05legislation. As Senator Blumenthal just mentioned, despite progress under the Biden administration,
00:15in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, the VA reported over 36,000 vacancies
00:24at the Veterans Health Administration, including 2,400 doctors, 6,300 registered nurses,
00:341,800 social workers, 3,400 schedulers, and 1,200 custodians. In other words,
00:44the agency was already short-staffed. Yet as we speak, Elon Musk and Donald Trump
00:53are trying to dismantle the VA by laying off an additional 83,000 employees.
01:02Despite today's court decision, they have already fired 2,500 probationary employees at the VA,
01:09many of them disabled veterans themselves. All across our country,
01:17people are shaking their heads and they're asking how does it happen
01:24that the wealthiest person in the world, a guy worth hundreds of billions of dollars,
01:30is making life more difficult, is sacrificing the health and well-being of veterans of this country,
01:39the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend us. But it's not just
01:45Americans all over the country. The veterans community itself,
01:50representing millions of people who put the uniform on, they're asking the same questions.
01:58And that is why the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the VFW, has recently said, and I quote,
02:04we call upon VA to reconsider its planned reduction of 83,000 employees and thoroughly
02:13review any proposed cuts before rolling out further announcements like this.
02:18End of quote. I agree with the VFW. The paralyzed veterans of America
02:25said that they are, quote, deeply troubled by actions being taken in Washington, D.C.
02:35that are already having a detrimental impact on the services that veterans with spinal cord injuries
02:41and diseases like ALS and MS rely upon. End of quote. The disabled American veterans said, quote,
02:51quote, we are extremely concerned about the leak proposal to arbitrarily eliminate 80,000 VA
03:00employees. Our hearts are with the many veterans who are or will be losing their jobs. We worry
03:08about service disabled veterans with small businesses who may be devastated by canceled
03:13contracts, particularly if they impact services to our community. But foremost, we are concerned
03:20for the veterans who are contacting us with fear and anxiety about the future of the benefits,
03:26services, and health care they rely on. That is what the Veterans Organizations of America are
03:33saying. And let us not forget, as Senator Blumenthal mentioned, nearly 900,000 civilian
03:41federal employees are either veteran spouses or veterans or spouses of active military members,
03:48representing 30 percent of the entire federal government workforce. An estimated 6,000 veterans
03:56have been fired across the entire federal workforce so far, and more are likely to be fired
04:03if we don't take a stand. In defending these layoffs, the VA has stated that the personnel
04:09moves will save the department more than 181 million dollars a year. 181 million dollars. Well,
04:17guess what? The Trump administration, as we speak, is proposing to provide the wealthiest people in
04:24this country with over one trillion dollars in tax breaks over a 10-year period. In other words,
04:33they are sacrificing the needs of veterans who put their lives on the line to defend our country
04:39in order to make billionaires like Elon Musk even richer. And that is a tradeoff that the American
04:47people, whether you're Republican, Democrat, or Independent, do not support. So let us be clear.
04:54We have got to go forward in a bipartisan way, as Senator Blumenthal just said. This is not a
05:01Democrat issue. It's not a Republican issue. This is an American issue. Today, we tell Elon Musk
05:07that the people of America stand with the veterans, the heroes and heroines who defended us,
05:14and we're going to protect their interests. Thank you.