{"id":72300,"date":"2025-02-25T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/02\/25\/vfw-condemns-federal-layoffs-as-indiscriminately-harming-veterans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:32:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:32:55","slug":"vfw-condemns-federal-layoffs-as-indiscriminately-harming-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2025\/02\/25\/vfw-condemns-federal-layoffs-as-indiscriminately-harming-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"VFW condemns federal layoffs as \u2018indiscriminately harming\u2019 veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The national leader of the Veterans of Foreign Wars criticized the ongoing mass layoffs of government employees, arguing that veterans \u2014 who account for nearly one-third of the federal workforce \u2014 are disproportionately affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt, a Vietnam War veteran, condemned the layoffs in a statement<\/a> Tuesday. He said veterans were being \u201chit hard\u201d by the firings, which have affected thousands of workers across various government agencies<\/a> during President Donald Trump\u2019s first month in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince the federal government is the single largest employer of veterans in the nation, it\u2019s veterans who are being indiscriminately harmed in this bull-\u2019DOGE\u2019-ing of the federal workforce,\u201d wrote Lipphardt, using a play on words about the new agency tasked with carrying out the cuts, the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 636,937 veterans were employed by the federal government as of September 2021. That number equates to about 30% of the federal workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 90% of those veterans received veterans\u2019 preference<\/a>, a policy that gives job candidates a boost in the hiring process if they are disabled veterans or served on active duty during certain dates or military campaigns. Half of the veterans in the federal workforce as of September 2021 were designated as disabled, meaning they were discharged from the military with a service-connected disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a 2021 report about veterans in the federal workforce<\/a>, the Office of Personnel Management lauded a recent increase in the rate of disabled veterans who were recruited into government jobs. \u201cThis performance reflects consistency and robust application of veterans\u2019 recruiting efforts concerning disabled veterans,\u201d the agency wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no official figure available for the employees fired since Trump launched an effort to shrink the federal workforce, and it\u2019s unclear how many of them were veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\t