Louisville veterans say they feel 'betrayed' by cuts to VA jobs
The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to slash more than 80,000 jobs to comply with President Donald Trump's latest order to cut the federal workforce, according to a leaked memo.
WLKY spoke to veterans about the latest news.
"Betrayed," said Frank Lavender Jr., an Army veteran speaking on how he feels about the cuts.
"When somebody decides they want to take 'x' amount of dollars from the VA, that's a threat to me," he added.
Lavender attended a breakfast hosted by congressman Morgan McGarvey on Friday to honor Black veterans.
McGarvey addressed the cuts as he spoke at the breakfast.
WLKY asked him what these cuts mean for the VA in Louisville. He says that remains unclear.
"This is part of the problem with what Elon Musk is doing," said McGarvey. "There's no transparency whatsoever. They are not telling people who works for them, they're not telling people what they're cutting, who they're cutting, why they're cutting it."
In 2022, the VA expanded health care to millions of veterans exposed to toxic substances through the PACT Act.
McGarvey says that because so many new people are coming into the system, he is worried.
"Ripping 80,000 people away from the VA is not going after waste, fraud and abuse," said McGarvey. "That is taking away people whose job it is to help veterans get the services they've earned. And we already know that veterans are having trouble accessing services. We should be making it easier, not harder for veterans to get what they want."
McGarvey, who serves on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, joined his colleagues on Capitol Hill this week in sending a letter to the VA Secretary demanding action.
But it's not just the cuts that concern him.
He says Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency have fired nearly 6,000 veterans nationwide who work in federal jobs.
Veterans make up nearly 30% of the federal workforce, according to McGarvey's office.
He is now co-sponsoring legislation to reinstate veterans who have been fired by Musk and DOGE.
He announced the "Protect Veteran Jobs Act" earlier this week as he highlighted the story of Tim Nicolazzi, a Louisville Army veteran fired from HUD last month.
"The legislation could pass the House and the Senate potentially," he said. "President Trump is going to have to sign it into law. And so we've got to get Trump and Musk to commit to protecting our veterans, because right now it's pretty clear from their actions they're not."
McGarvey says there is bipartisan concern over these cuts.
Veterans say they hope this leads to help.
"There's only 1% of the population who make that commitment to go into the military service," said Alma Wooley, an Army veteran. "And my goodness, that 1% ought to be supported. I am believing that it is going to work out for our behalf."
Amid job cuts, people have expressed concern over funding for the new VA Hospital in Louisville, wondering if it will be impacted.
WLKY reached out to the VA to ask.
“Construction and activations work at the new Robley Rex VA Medical Center project is continuing unimpeded," said a spokesperson. "VA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) remain committed to delivering a world-class medical facility for Kentucky Veterans.”