Hundreds of North Texans gathered outside the VA hospital in Dallas to protest Trump’s plan to cut thousands of jobs at the department. (Photo by Katie Serrano)
Protests against the Trump administration’s possible VA cuts took place all across the country on March 14, including at the VA hospital in Dallas.
President Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate 80,000 Veterans Affairs jobs is not just about budget cuts for Texas veterans, it’s about betrayal.
Over 1.5 million veterans call Texas home, including Triste Ordex, a retired Marine staff sergeant who spoke to hundreds of protestors outside the Dallas VA Medical Center on March 14 for the Rally to Save the VA.
“ We are all under attack,” Ordex said. “VA services are being gutted, staff are being fired, and we are being pushed into a system that’s already failing too many of us. This isn’t just about budget cuts. It’s about betrayal.”
Texas — home to the largest veteran population in the country — has VA centers in Bonham, Dallas, Houston, Kerrville, and Waco. The VA North Texas Health Care System, which includes the Dallas VA center and the Sam Rayburn Veterans Center in Bonham, serves more than 235,000 veterans and employs approximately 6,800 people.
Texas also leads the nation in veterans who file disability claims through the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxic Exposure Act, according to the Texas Veterans Commission. The bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022 and expands VA healthcare and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances and burn pits.
“ They want to make it even harder to get help, and that’s not only irresponsible, it’s deadly,” Ordex said. “Cutting these services means fewer doctors, longer wait times, and more veterans suffering in silence.”
The proposed firings are part of Texas billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency to dramatically cut federal spending.
And although Trump recently claimed that his administration would “take good care” of veterans, more than 25% of the VA’s workforce is comprised of veterans, according to the Associated Press.
“ We’re traumatized by the illegal firings,” said Yolanda Jacobs, president of the North Texas chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees. “It’s sad that nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and administrative staff are coming in and getting terminated via email.”
In recent weeks, approximately 2,400 VA employees have been let go, including 16 people in North Texas, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Ellen Saler-Santini, a US Navy veteran, poses with her nurse uniform outside the Dallas VA on March 14 at the Rally to Save the VA.
Ellen Saler-Santini — a US Navy and Navy Reserve veteran who served as a nurse from 1978 to 1980 in Florida, Illinois, Texas, and California — called the Trump administration cutting staff “shameful.”
The VA announced improved hospital wait times last year, but Saler-Santini, who has seen the VA struggle with hospital wait times first-hand, said she is concerned that these cuts will set the department back.
“I have used the VA for medical care,” Saler-Santini said. “And as a nurse, and being a hospital corpsman in the Navy, I have actually — while waiting for an appointment — got up to offer to help with vital signs,” she said. “That’s how bad wait times are and how long I’ve had to sit at the VA, the whole day, waiting for an appointment. So I think it’s shameful, what this administration is doing to our veterans. They’re cutting staff and disrespecting our veterans who fought for us so that we could be free.”
In a 12-month period ending in April 2024, over 40,000 Texas veterans enrolled in VA healthcare, citing Biden’s PACT Act for allowing the VA to expand benefits to millions of veterans.
But amid these cuts, the VA will no longer perform as well for veterans, according to experts.
“ If we let them take this away, we will never get it back,” Ordex said. “This is our fight, and we must demand that Congress reject these reckless cuts. We fought for this country, and now we’re demanding that our legislators fight for us.”
The VA North Texas Health Care System provided a statement to Courier Texas that said reforms at the VA will help the agency better serve veterans.
“We want to reform the department so we can serve veterans better than ever before,” the statement, written by VA Secretary Doug Collins, reads. “VA is already redirecting billions of dollars from non-mission critical efforts to veteran-facing services, which will result in massive improvements without cutting healthcare or benefits. We have an obligation to make VA work better for the veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors we are charged with serving, and that is exactly what we will do.”
