Trump and Musk risk radicalizing veterans

George Washington is said to have claimed that “A nation is judged by how well it treats its veterans.” Well, it has been a rough month for veterans in America.

President Trump and the world's richest person, Elon Musk have taken a chainsaw to the federal government, firing thousands of workers and cutting funding for many programs. They also proudly claim to have eliminated DEI in the government, and that the fired employees were terrible performers or engaged in waste, fraud and abuse.

It turns out that a sizable portion of the people fired were veterans. Now, the Republican Party must confront the fact that Trump's and Musk's actions will (not may) come back to haunt them in the midterm elections and beyond. For in addition to the firings, veterans at large are finding out that VA programs are being cut, and Republicans have refused to protect other benefits from Musk’s rampage.

Like many veterans, I got an email from new VA Secretary Doug Collins saying that “benefits were not being cut.” At the same time I was watching his video embedded in the email, I was also notified via text that the VA Crisis Line had lost workers to Department of Government Efficiency cuts. On LinkedIn, my feed is filled with veterans who are now scrambling to find work, many of whom were fired after recently being hired.

In fact, disabled veterans who voted for Trump found themselves fired for no apparent reason. Some were told they were being fired for performance issues, despite receiving great performance reviews. The fallout has not been contained to Washington, D.C., with stories of veterans being terminated in states like Utah and Texas. Many were fired just days away from coming off probationary status.

We say veterans represent the best of America, but then watch as a Marine veteran like Andrew Lennox — who is working at the VA to give back while pursuing a MBA was let go for performance issues — even though he never had any type of performance review.

Veterans make up 30 percent of the federal workforce, but only 5 percent of the civilian workforce. There are many reasons for this. Many government jobs line up with veterans' military experience. Many veterans still want to serve and view civil service as the pathway to do so. And for many, it is an easy transition, something that is considerably harder to do in the corporate world.

It isn’t just veterans in the federal workforce who have to worry. During the run-up to the election, alarm bells were sounded by just about every veteran advocacy group that benefits like medical care, education, disability payments, job preference and housing assistance would come under the axe of Project 2025.

That fear is one step closer to being realized with the news that the Senate signaled that they would refuse to protect veteran benefits in the PACT Act. This refusal by all but one Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), lends credence to the fears that DOGE, Trump and their acolytes will take their chainsaw to the VA while selling a story of waste, fraud and abuse to the public.

This all bodes badly for Republicans. Veterans, by and large, vote Republican in every election. Even when Republicans have stood in opposition to veterans care or benefits (including celebrating voting against veteran’s health care), they have retained the support of the men and women who have worn the uniform.

That could all change, and soon. Democrats will surely jump on the opportunity to defend veterans' jobs, benefits and rights. Veterans are going to pay attention to this.

This isn’t the first time that Republicans have run afoul of America’s vets. Going back to the fiasco with the Bonus Army, when President Herbert Hoover used tanks and tear gas on World War I veterans protesting for better benefits, to fighting against expanding care for Vietnam and global war on terror vets for Agent Orange and burn pits, respectively.

Republicans need to shy away from the infamous quote by Calvin Coolidge about veterans — “Patriotism bought and paid for is not patriotism” — and embrace instead the words of our first president. The nation is judging how we treat veterans and one month in, the Trump administration is failing miserably.

Jos Joseph is a master’s candidate at the Harvard Extension School at Harvard University. He is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and lives in Anaheim, Calif.

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