CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Eighty thousand people working for the Department of Veterans Affairs could soon be without a job.
According to an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press, the Trump administrations plans to reorganize the agency this summer. The cuts so far have included a few thousand employees. Some of them worked for North Carolina VA facilities.
“My original plan was to get my master’s degree, go back to VA as a full-on therapist, and work there until I retired, treating veterans as a veteran,” said David Miller, who spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps Infantry.
That plan is now on hold after Miller recently lost his job at the Durham VA Health Care System.
“I’m going to try not to get emotional,” he said.
He’s one of thousands of people now unemployed as the Trump administration makes sweeping cuts at various federal agencies through the Department of Government Efficiency initiative.
“It’s great to see a president actually taking this matter seriously because it is a matter of national viability,” said North Carolina Republican Congressman Greg Murphy. “Yeah, it’s tough at times and I feel sorry for the folks who have been let go, but this is national security.”
Murphy applauded the department led by Elon Musk, while Democrats are blasting the efforts.
“Republicans aren’t interested in improving the economy or making life better,” said Sen. Cory Booker. “They want to enact the largest cut to Medicaid in American history and are hurting our veterans.”
The internal memo sent to the VA’s top officials calls for them to work with DOGE to bring staffing levels down to where they were in 2019, fewer than 400,000.
“A lot of shock,” said Miller. “A lot of not knowing what my next step is.”
More than 25% of the VA’s staff is made up of veterans. The reorganization is set for August.
