Dear john,
I know so much has been going on this week, but I wanted to bring this to your attention.
Led by Elon Musk, the so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) has fired almost 6,000 veterans from our federal government, including over 2,500 from the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, according to the Democratic House Appropriations Committee.
In response, I'm proud to be an original supporter of the Protect Veteran Jobs Act, which would allow for the reinstatement of any veteran who was removed or dismissed from federal employment without cause since January 20, 2025. The bill would also require new reporting requirements to Congress of any veterans who have been removed from federal positions and the justification for such removal on a quarterly basis going forward.
According to publicly available data, news sources, and the Office of Personnel Management's FedScope tool, below are some of the following estimates for the amount of veterans fired from federal agencies:
Deparment of Defense 2,363
Department of Veterans Affairs 256
Department of Agriculture 458
Treasury Department 676
Interior Department 384
Department of Health and Human Services 415
Department Energy 495
U.S. Agency for International Development 374
The federal government is the single largest employer of veterans in our country. Because DOGE has stated a goal to eliminate up to 75% of the federal workforce, that means up to 500,000 veterans could lose their jobs according to estimates from the Democratic House Appropriations Committee.
