DOGE Weekly Watchdog: Trump and Musk Gut Veterans’ Jobs, Target Social Security, and Let Billionaires Off the Hook

Trump Targets Thousands of Veterans’ Jobs, While Giving a Helping Hand to Billionaire Tax Cheats

Last week, President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s latest target was the brave Americans who have served our country in uniform. A leaked memo revealed that Trump and Musk are plotting to slash over 80,000 jobs from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in a move that would put thousands of veterans out of jobs – with veterans accounting for more than 25% of the VA’s workforce – and degrade the essential services those who have served are entitled to. 

The latest DOGE proposed cuts show where the Trump-Musk Administration’s priorities lie – and it’s not with making the government run better or stopping fraud. In fact, according to new reports, the Administration is also planning to put a bullseye on the IRS by slashing the agency responsible for collecting taxes in half. The move would make it even easier for billionaire tax cheats to skirt paying their fair share. According to a former IRS commissioner: “widespread cuts to the IRS make no sense if Trump and Musk genuinely care about fiscal responsibility and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.” Last year, an IRS report found that tax evasion by millionaires and billionaires is costing the U.S. Treasury $150 billion a year. 

Americans deserve real reform to root out wasteful spending, cut red tape and bureaucracy, and make the government work better. Instead, DOGE is a sham for Trump and Musk’s real goal: making themselves and their wealthy pals richer, and leaving regular Americans with the bill. 

HOW THE TRUMP-MUSK ADMINISTRATION’S DOGE IS HARMING FAMILIES 

• Plotting to put tens of thousands of veterans out of their jobs, worsen VA services: A new leaked memo revealed Donald Trump and Elon Musk are planning to fire more than 80,000 workers from the VA, the agency responsible for providing health care and critical services to veterans and their families. Critically, more than 25% of VA employees are veterans themselves who have bravely served our country. A former top VA official made clear: “What’s going to happen is VA’s not going to perform as well for veterans, and veterans are going to get harmed.”

• Axing hundreds of NOAA employees, putting Americans’ at higher risk in extreme weather events: Trump and Musk fired at least 800 National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employees focused on climate science – responsible for tracking extreme weather events and giving life-saving wildfire, tornado and hurricane warnings, and ensuring accurate and timely weather reports. One NOAA employee noted, “This is not a move toward efficiency; it’s a move toward putting Americans in danger every day.” The American Meteorological Society has said these cuts will cause “irreparable harm and have far-reaching consequences for public safety.” 

• Putting a bullseye on Social Security payments: In the recent interview, Musk signaled that one of his next targets could be seniors’ Social Security, calling the earned benefit, which nearly 69 million Americans rely on, the “biggest ponzi scheme of all time.” Already, the Social Security Administration has announced that “significant” workforce cuts are coming – threatening the agency’s ability to deliver timely benefits. Former SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley said the cuts could lead to the “collapse” of the Social Security system.

• Firing at least 90 workers improving the governments’ digital services: The Administration fired at least 90 employees focused on improving the government’s digital services, including building the Direct File program, which allows Americans to file their taxes online for free – a move that will make government services harder to use.

Budget cuts by DOGE are hitting critical services hard—healthcare, farmers’ aid, research, veterans’ care, and Head Start programs. 

Feeling the impact?

SHARE YOUR STORY HERE. Your voice helps highlight these critical issues and advocate for change.