Staffing cuts in the federal Department of Veterans Affairs are disproportionately affecting the veterans that the department preferentially hires, said members of a South Dakota veterans’ advocacy group.

They worry the Trump administration’s goal of cutting 80,000 VA employees will put more veterans out of work without a vetting process, and erode the quality of services provided.

Eugene Murphy, of Sioux Falls, is a past national commander of Disabled American Veterans and a Vietnam War vet who was paralyzed by gunshot wounds.

“How are you going to treat my brothers and sisters like that?” he said. “This is not right.”

The VA provides services for veterans including health care, housing options, life insurance, pensions, education stipends and more. One-quarter of the VA’s 482,000 employees are veterans.

DOGE in South Dakota

For more about the impact of mass federal firings, funding freezes and grant cancellations in South Dakota, see Searchlight’s DOGE in SD page.

Disabled American Veterans of South Dakota says the Trump administration’s initial round of cuts to probationary employees disproportionately impacted disabled veterans. The national organization shared testimonials on its website of some of the disabled and decorated veterans who have already been fired.

“I found out I lost my job off the clock, on my day off, without a warning, without a meeting, without even a termination letter,” said Navy veteran Kara Oliver, of Michigan. “Just a locked computer screen and a stunned supervisor confirming the news. And here’s the worst part: The veterans lost more than I did.”

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About 2,400 of the VA’s roughly 46,000 probationary employees — generally those who’ve been in their jobs less than two years — were terminated last month.

Judges have ruled that the mass firings of federal probationary workers that began last month were illegal, and ordered the workers reinstated pending further litigation. The Trump administration has begun the process of reinstating tens of thousands of them, though most are just being placed on administrative leave as the government cites the “burdens” of rehiring, court filings reviewed by States Newsroom show.

The cuts are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration and the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, leader of Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, to reduce government spending.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in a recent video that he intends to return the agency to 2019 staffing levels of around 398,000. He said the savings will be reinvested in health care and services.

“The federal government doesn’t exist to employ people. It exists to serve people,” Collins said.

He said doctors and nurses are not being fired.

“You know where we’re going to be looking? At the bureaucracy layer that goes from my doctor to the central office in Washington, D.C.,” Collins said.

‘Makes my blood boil’

That doesn’t ease the concerns of Marty Pennock, an Army veteran who directs the South Dakota department of Disabled American Veterans, headquartered in Sioux Falls.

“It just makes my blood boil knowing the politicians doing this never have to worry about where their paychecks are going to come from,” he said.

Pennock referenced the example of a disabled veteran and single mother who served 16 years in the military and was recently fired from the Sioux Falls VA hospital.

“I have great concern that all these cuts are going to impact the services provided, but I’m also concerned about the impact on those let go,” Pennock said. “Many of the people working for the department are disabled veterans. And if not, they’re all people who have put in time to serve people I care about. They deserve better than being fired without any justification or a basis.”

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U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, serves on the Armed Services and Appropriations committees. He said the volume of calls his staff receives has more than doubled following the Trump-Musk cuts. He said they will continue monitoring the situation and advocate for rehirings when appropriate. He shares concerns about firing veterans.

“I think that’s what we have got to be on guard for,” Rounds said.

The cuts come at a time when veterans’ health care needs are increasing. The VA enrolled 400,000 veteransin its benefits system from March 2023 through March 2024, 30 percent more than the prior year. It also expanded eligibility for former service members to receive VA health care.

The agency has grown in recent years in response to the increase in veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan needing services as they age, as well as a new benefit from a 2022 toxic exposure law known as the PACT Act. The law is intended to help veterans exposed to the military’s use of open-air burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Because of that, Pennock said, VA staff cuts will hurt benefits.

“Since the PACT Act, demands on the system increased greatly,” Pennock said. “Many of the new people were brought on to help with a backlog of disability claims.”

Staff shortages have led to long wait times for care, with some VA clinics so understaffed that they are unable to take new patients for primary care or mental health needs.

Pennock met with the state’s congressional delegation about one month ago in Washington, D.C. While Secretary Collins said benefits could ultimately improve via a reallocation of funding, Pennock said he left D.C. not feeling optimistic.

Pennock is worried that options presented in the Congressional Budget Office’s recent report on reducing the federal deficit may soon come true. Possibilities include eliminating disability compensation for households making over $137,000 (or “means testing”), reducing disability benefits for retired veterans, and making veteran disability income taxable.

“Most families would lose their benefits if that means-testing option is implemented,” Pennock said. This is huge,” Pennock said.

Rounds said the Congressional Budget Office’s report does nothing more than offer options where cuts could be made.

“None of those have been presented as a proposal to be voted on,” Rounds said.

U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, said in a statement that he has heard concerns about changes to the VA, “and I’m seeking more information on the administration’s plans.”

“Despite the claims of some, Congress won’t cut VA benefits as a part of this year’s appropriations process,” Johnson said. “Of course, we’ll work to find efficiencies, but saved dollars will be reinvested in the system to improve care.”

South Dakota veteran protests

Protests last week drew more than 100 people to the VA Medical Center in Sioux Falls.

Sheila and Donald Aaker attended the protest. The two are worried veterans’ health care services will be negatively impacted. Donald served in Vietnam, “and he did his duty,” Sheila said.

“It’s just not right,” Sheila said. “It’s not right for people to have to struggle with an illness and wonder if their health care will be available. He was promised that, and I think the country owes it to him.”

Air Force veteran Larry Williams said witnessing gruesome deaths during a deployment to Europe during the 1970s wore on his mental health.

“I got the help that I needed,” Williams said. “And today I’m doing a lot better than I was. But I am here for my fellow comrades. These services are vital. We signed a blank check saying we will surrender our lives in battle, but some of us have come home. And we’re still being treated like s—.”

Jody Fleischhacker is an Air Force veteran. She said what is happening in D.C. is “unbelievable.” Her daughter was a federal employee fired by the Trump administration.

“There is such a disregard for a lot of people,” she said. “And they don’t care. It’s the billionaire boys club out there. Rounds, Thune and Dusty Johnson are worthless. They sit up there and turn their backs on South Dakota.”

Bruce Watts joined the Army out of high school and served in Korea. He too wants to see South Dakota’s congressional delegation take action.

“Step up and protect veterans’ rights,” he said. “And stop this anti-democratic move happening in Washington.”

State-provided veterans benefits and staffing will not be impacted by the federal cuts, according to the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs. Public affairs officers with the Sioux Falls and Rapid City VA offices did not respond to requests for comment.