Military veterans in San Diego and across the country are organizing to fight proposed layoffs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which they say will negatively impact veterans and their families.
VA Secretary Doug Collins said earlier this month the department intends to layoff more than 70,000 employees. The Associated Press and other sources put the number around 80,000.
"The federal government does not exist to employ people — it exists to serve people," Collins said in a video announcing the layoff plan. "We'll be making major changes — so get used to it."
Veterans and advocates organized protests across the country on March 14, including in San Diego, led by the local chapter of Veterans for Peace.
Rain pushed the protest indoors at the WorldBeat Cultural Center in Balboa Park.
Cliff deWolff, a 20-year Navy veteran, said the rush to cut VA staff reveals something about the administration.
"They don't care," deWolff said. "That's what it boils down to. They don't care."
deWolff said he was injured in combat by shrapnel and receives disability benefits from the VA. Until recently, he was also receiving counseling.
"I've seen people die," deWolff said. "I have known people who have committed suicide. I suffer from PTSD. And the counselor that I had? She's no longer available to me."
In February the VA laid off about 1,500 probationary employees and put others on administrative leave. They are among thousands of probationary federal workers fired by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the agency empowered by Trump to slash the federal government.
Federal workers unions are suing the administration over the firings and this month a judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering the government to rehire the workers.
The VA said in a statement it's complying with the ruling.
On Monday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to step in the halt the injunction.
Livier Lozaro is the commander of the Don Diego VFW in Logan Heights. Speaking at the protest, she said it's not just firings at the VA that's hurting veterans. Because veterans also make up about 30% of the federal workforce, DOGE's cuts across the government harm veterans, she said.
"These decisions have been carried out with cold indifference," she said. "This is betrayal ... our leaders love to talk about honoring veterans but when it comes to acting, we see the opposite."
Lozaro said Congress and the Trump administration should stop the cuts.
"Reinstate critical positions and protect the benefits veterans have rightfully earned," she said.
The role of Congress is a central point of contention in the debate over the cuts.
San Diego Democratic Rep. Mike Levin has worked on veterans issues since being elected to Congress in 2018. He now sits on the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees spending.
Levin held a hearing in Oceanside Friday where veterans and advocates talked how the cuts could impact veteran care.
With Republicans in the majority, Levin told KPBS he was frustrated by their inaction.
"They (Congressional Republicans) have effectively ceded control to Elon Musk and to DOGE — which I call 'Destruction of Government by Elon,' because that's what it is," Levin said.
He said no one has yet made the case as to why these cuts are needed.
"We don't have clear answers because my Republican colleagues will not have hearings ... they will not have town halls. They will not be accountable and transparent about why the support these moves because they're afraid, in my view, to cross the president and to cross their biggest donor — Elon Musk — who's been put in charge."
Republican town halls have seen disruptions and boos as constituents press their representatives on government cuts and layoffs.
Oceanside Marine Corps veteran Sarah Czech said the lack of action from Congress is just the latest example of something fundamentally broken in the American government.
"I believe that we're starting to see the breakdown of the two party system actively before our eyes every day," Czech told KPBS in an interview. "There's a problem when Americans ... are saying ... that the political system is causing them stress and anxiety every day in their lives."
Czech is the co-chair of the Veteran and Veteran Family Committee for the Forward Party in California. The Forward Party is a centrist political party started by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
Czech spent 10 years in the Marine Corps and said she relies on the VA for care. She said cutting the VA left her feeling betrayed by the government and the country.
"I know that's the way everyone its feeling right now — it's not only me," Czech said.
According to Collins, the goal of the VA's layoffs is to get the agency to its 2019 staffing level. That was before the 2022 PACT Act — hailed as the largest expansion of veterans benefits in a generation — made VA benefits available to millions more veterans.
To meet the demand, the VA beefed up staffing. Collins said the cuts will optimize care and won't impact providers.
VA San Diego provided KPBS a statement from VA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. about the agencies compliance with the court injunction. VA San Diego hasn't answered questions KPBS asked more than two weeks ago about how cuts are affecting staffing levels here.
