Group in Eagan, Minnesota rallies against proposed cuts to VA workforce
Two dozen people in Eagan, Minnesota on Thursday — many of them veterans themselves or who have family who served in the military — rallied against proposed workforce reductions in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Last month, the VA announced plans to cut roughly 72,000 workers in a push for efficiency and eliminating "waste and bureaucracy." That amounts to 15% of the agency's employees.
Michael Brenner, a retired commander in the Navy, said he was frustrated and concerned about the decision and felt compelled to do something, so he asked members of his community if they would join him to protest the cuts.
"I was really so concerned about what was going on. It was eating me up," he said.
Brenner is one of more than 285,000 veterans in Minnesota. More than half of them are enrolled in the VA health care system, according to data from the department. He said is already noticing changes to service and worries what could follow.
"It takes a lot longer for a phone to be answered. I've had many calls where I'm calling into a clinic for whatever reason and I hear a frantic voice saying, 'you reached clinic so and so and so and so. We can't take your call right now. We don't know when someone will be able to take your call.'"
VA Secretary Doug Collins in a social media post last month vowed any agency adjustments would be conducted by "a thorough and thoughtful review based on input from career VA employees, senior executives as well as the top VA leaders." More than 470,000 people, a quarter of them veterans, worked for his agency as of December 2024.
He said he wants to get the VA back to 2019-levels for staffing and that the "pragmatic and disciplined" approach would improve health care, benefits and services to veterans.
Some veterans in Minnesota aren't so convinced.
"I think the expectation of being supported, backed up and respected, is certainly not too little to ask in return [for military service]," said Greg Pasillas, a veteran of the Air Force.
A spokesperson in a statement to WCCO early Friday morning highlighted its placement on that list and said Secretary Collins is working to remedy to the issues plaguing the agency.
"Unfortunately, many in the media, government union bosses and some in Congress are fighting to keep in place the broken status quo. Our message to Veterans is simple: Despite major opposition from those who don't want to change a thing at VA, we will reform the department to make it work better for Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors," said Peter Kasperowicz, the VA press secretary, in an email.
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, who represents the Second Congressional District including Eagan, stopped by to lend her support to veterans protesting on Thursday. She said the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency should look at any waste, fraud and abuse in government agencies but said their decisions about cuts have not been strategic.
"If you make cuts, at least know what you're cutting. This team of 20 year olds is completely out of control. They're running roughshod through the U.S. government. No CEO in America would keep their job if they were making the kinds of reckless cuts to their organization that Elon Musk and his DOGE boys are making," she said.
Many of the confirmed workers who were already let go have had their jobs reinstated following court orders, according to a New York Times analysis of federal agencies.
Kasperowicz told WCCO last month that all VA "mission-critical" positions are exempt from any workforce cuts.
