We win when we fight

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced they will not institute a Reduction in Force of what had been planned to be 83,000 employees after outcry by veterans

This is a long fight

If you follow me you know I’ve been saying for months that this battle to save our democracy and beat back this authoritarian movement led by Donald Trump and his malevolent allies would be long and hard. I told you that it will almost surely not have moments of triumph as much as a series of small wins and losses in the long slog to ultimate victory.

Monday we won one. It wasn’t a triumphant victory we can shout from the rooftops. It’s not a total surrender by our foes but it is a win and we will take it.

In a release full of made up numbers and the usual boasting from the Trump Administration, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs announced they would not go forward with a planned Reduction in Force of their employees that had been originally announced to target fully 15% of their workforce which was as much as 72,000 employees.

Instead they will continue forward with hiring freezes, the deferred resignation program, and early retirements that have already seen 17,000 employees leave in just the last 6 months.

I believe it’s a testament to the hard work of groups like my own Unite for Veterans Coalition that staged a massive rally on the National Mall on June 6th demanding that VA stop this effort to dismantle one of the largest healthcare systems in America.

Unite for Veterans put out the following statement yesterday,

Unite for Veteran Coalition Responds to VA Cuts: Progress Made, Harm Still Likely

We are pleased to see that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has decided to scale back its workforce reduction plans. While a reduction of 30,000 staff through attrition and expedited retirements still risks seriously harming services veterans need and have earned, it is much better than the 75,000-83,000 person reduction the VA was planning.

We are grateful to all of those who joined us at the Unite for Veterans Rally on June 6 to raise awareness about the irreparable harms the proposed cuts would cause our community. Thankfully, it looks like the VA listened. Veterans across the country who have been speaking out about their need for the VA’s services and the dangers to them and others posted by the proposed deep reductions are starting to be heard.

As a coalition of veterans, servicemembers, and military families, we recognize the strength of our community when it works together and speaks out for its members. We remain committed to elevating the voices of veterans to protect our collective rights and needs. We will continue the fight to safeguard the VA, protect its employees, and support the veterans they serve

Take the ‘W’ and keep fighting

This is a win by nearly all measures. To go from a cut of 72,000 to only 30,000 without a massive layoff hanging over the heads of VA employees for months to come is a huge win and relief for the people that both take care of our veterans and veterans themselves.

But, like seeing the ‘W’ flag over Wrigley Field as a Cardinals fan…it’s not a happy victory.

The Win flag that has been sadly flying a lot at Wrigley Field

In the end the VA is being gutted and it’s completely random. While they promised not to cut healthcare providers, thousands have taken the deferred resignation program. This means they are at home or in a new job being paid by the American taxpayers through September, while not providing much needed care and support to veterans. Many more have taken early retirement instead of dealing with the constant drama, changing policies, and simply toxic work environment that Doug Collins has created.

This means that appointments are being canceled, veterans aren’t seeing the same providers they’ve seen previously, and care is being delayed. Interestingly, the only statistic that Secretary Collins touts these days is that they have somehow reduced the claims processing times since Biden…and that’s it.

I mean, it seems hard to believe that the second largest healthcare system in the United States only has one single statistical measure doesn’t it? Especially one that has nothing to do with the core mission of “caring for veterans, their widows, and orphans” as laid out by Abraham Lincoln. (More to come on that)

Look no further than the very helpful r/VeteransAffairs subreddit to see the stories that are piling up of veterans having appointments canceled or postponed due to lack of providers.

That’s before we talk about the hiring freeze and earlier firing of probationary employees. They gutted the new corps of providers and professionals that support veterans. While Dougie touts how they have opened over a dozen new clinics since he took over six months ago. (Yes…I know…they were built under Biden and completed under Trump…but Collins doesn’t let reality get in the way.) The facts are that none of them are fully staffed or even functioning as promised.

The new clinic in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area that was desperately needed in a region where even a short travel distance on I-95 can mean hours of traffic, the clinic still doesn’t have a radiology department, women’s clinic, or the needed mental healthcare or administrative staff. They simply can’t hire them.

There is hope

I tell you all of this with that nagging nugget of hope that lingers in the recesses of my mind. We won one. There is no question that Collins capitulated to the pressures of millions of veterans calling out his lies and incompetence. He was clearly cracking under the pressure during townhalls with staff as sputtered with anger and frustration at questions from the hard working employees about his plans to cut thousands of jobs.

All of this shows that when we work together and use our voices we can win. Over 10,000 people gathered on the National Mall and thousands more across the country on June 6th and told them we will not accept your destruction. We worked at home to pressure our members of Congress.

We fought and we won.

Let’s take the ‘W’ and keep fighting. The slog is not over.

It has just begun.

As I said during my speech that day. We are not done yet.

Let’s get to it.

---

Authors Note: My work with ‘On Democracy’ is my sole mission now. From hosting our shows to this Substack I am dedicated to informing you and our fellow Americans about what is going on in our nation and news. I can do this only with your help. We don’t have many benefits for paid subscribers but your subscription is incredibly valuable to me and my ability to keep doing this work. I would be ever grateful if you considered a paid upgrade if you can afford it in these turbulent times.