Veterans protest VA cuts that could eliminate more than 80,000 jobs

Veterans protest Trump's proposed VA staffing cuts of up to 80,000 workers

Sonoma county veterans expressed shock, anger, and disappointment Wednesday at a protest outside the Santa Rosa VA health center, after President Trump's Chief of Staff for the Veterans Administration sent a memo to VA officials ordering them to plan for an initial round of layoffs to reduce staffing to 2019 levels of under 400,000 VA employees.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - U.S. veterans who fought for their country overseas are now standing their ground in a new fight on the home front.

What we know:

In Sonoma County on Wednesday, veterans and VA health workers held a rally outside the Santa Rosa VA health center, protesting the Trump administration's layoffs and proposed cuts to the VA system. The rally was part of a national day of veterans protesting.

"They're talking about cutting back on mental health, they're talking about cutting back on dental, on vision, on medical health," Al Liner, a Santa Rosa Navy veteran said. "What is going on here? They're going to cut our f***ing benefits? We earned this s***. We put our asses on the line."

"It's a frightening prospect to have those services cut back," Paul Gowins, a Santa Rosa Marine veteran said.

The Trump administration's new Veterans Affairs Chief of Staff, Christopher Syrek, sent out a memo to VA officials. The memo stated Elon Musk's Department Of Government Efficiency will work with the VA on an initial goal of cutting staffing to 2019 levels of just under 400,000 employees.

The Government Executive publication first reported on the leaked memo, saying the current staffing of 482,000 would require cuts of more than 80,000 VA jobs.

The VA has already laid off or cut back many positions.

"My primary caregiver has been cut back to 2/3rds time," Liner said.

"Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump just removed sexual response prevention from the military," one female veteran said at the rally in Santa Rosa.

The White House said President Trump is making the cuts to make the VA more efficient. In a statement, a White House spokesperson said the president "refuses to accept the VA bureaucracy and bloat that has hindered veterans’ ability to receive timely and quality care."

In 2024, the VA had 9 million veterans enrolled, the highest level ever. Under the Biden administration, the VA expanded the VA to help younger veterans impacted by burn pits and toxic chemicals under the 2022 PACT Act.

"We finally got that approved and people are coming forward to get their benefits, and now all those claims that are sitting at the region level to be examined and approved are all frozen because of this," Joe Fernandes, a Sebastopol Air Force veteran who served in Desert Storm, said.

More than 25% of the VA’s workforce is comprised of veterans. The Bay Area has more than a dozen VA health facilities in Santa Rosa, Fairfield, Mare Island, Martinez, Oakland, Livermore, Fremont, San Jose, San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Bruno, and Menlo Park.

Some sites are already seeing layoffs.

"[It] is creating a great deal of stress and demoralization, and feeling any day they don't know what's going to happen to them," Kym Valadez, a retired Santa Rosa VA social worker, said. "The VA has been understaffed for years and years and years."

"People can earn more in the private sector. We were always struggling against that when it came to hiring primary care providers. You always feel like you don't have enough staff," Dr. Ginger Schechter, former CMO at the Santa Rosa VA health center.

Some veterans and their families feel the White House is breaking a national promise.

"I entered a contract," John De Groot, a Santa Rosa Army veteran, said. "If I signed up and did what I was supposed to do to protect this country, they would be standing behind me, and this VA was part of it."

"This is very disrespectful to those men that put their lives on the line," Sharon Adams, the wife of a Santa Rosa Air Force veteran, said.

The memo from the Trump Administration's VA Chief of Staff says VA officials should submit initial plans by April, with final plans on staffing cuts to be announced in June.

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