'We call it betrayal': Veterans join Dems in D.C. to protest Trump's sweeping VA job cuts
Source: Nebraska Examiner
By: Ashley Murray - May 6, 2025 6:00 pm
WASHINGTON — Veterans and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday protested the Trump administration’s planned cuts for the Department of Veterans Affairs that include slashing some 80,000 jobs, which many worry will affect the massive agency’s delivery of medical care and benefits.
The group rallied outside the U.S. Capitol shortly after VA Secretary Doug Collins finished lengthy questioning before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, where he defended the cuts as necessary to improve the department’s efficiency.
Holding signs that read “Veterans Healthcare Not For Sale,” a crowd of former service members joined by senators and representatives decried that argument as “nonsensical,” as Sen. Richard Blumenthal, top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, put it.
“We’re not going to allow veterans to be betrayed by this administration,” Blumenthal, of Connecticut, said. “I’ve just come from a hearing with the VA secretary, and to say it was a disappointment is a huge understatement. That hearing was a disgrace.”
Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania joins veterans protesting the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, outside the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
Read more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/05/06/repub/we-call-it-betrayal-veterans-join-dems-in-d-c-to-protest-trumps-sweeping-va-job-cuts/