Nationwide layoffs at the Veterans Administration are impacting Atlanta’s VA Health Care System though the local VA did not say how big an impact or how many local workers were part of those layoffs.
Some terminated employees are asking why they were chosen.
The Trump administration announced it would lay off those employees late Thursday.
The new VA Secretary is former Georgia Congressman Doug Collins. He said this was a tough but necessary decision.
Former U.S. Army First Sergeant Nelson Feliz, Sr. was among those receiving a termination email.
“We’re mistreated,” Feliz told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot. “We’ve been betrayed.”
The “Notice of Termination” email from the VA to Feliz stated, “The agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest.”
“I was a first sergeant. My job was to take care of troops, making sure they were paid, fed, and slept. Why is this happening to us? I’ve been here too long for this to be happening,” Feliz said.
Feliz said he’s been a VA employee for more than 12 years but just started in a new position in which he’s still in his probationary period, the layoff selected probationary employees for termination.
It's willy-nilly slash and burn by people with no regard for the consequences of their actions, any respect for expertise, or the lives they're going to destroy in the process.
VA Secretary Doug Collins claimed this is not going to harm support for veterans, but we all know that's not true.
1000 probationary Department of Veterans Affairs employees fired. OIT, Procurement, and Veterans Benefits Administration. They are lying and saying it won’t affect support for veterans. news.va.gov/press-room/v...
NEW: Donald Trump fired a bunch of veterans today while simultaneously hindering care for veterans. In a month or so, republicans in Congress will cut food stamps so these veterans won’t be able to feed themselves or their families. I wonder how many of them voted for Trump.
How long before these Trump supporting veterans realize that "DEI" hires mean them?
Veterans have, by law, preferential hiring in the federal government. Disabled veterans get higher preference. Among other things, it's a pipeline to help them adjust post-service.
So if you're roasting all the new hires, you're roasting a lot of veterans, with a lean towards disabled vets.
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