Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee estimate that nearly 6,000 veterans may have already been fired from their federal jobs as part of the DOGE initiative run by mega-billionaire Elon Musk, with a lot more veteran layoffs possible.
Veterans make up a big portion of the federal workforce, at roughly 30%. The total number of federal employees was 2.3 million before any layoffs.
Using ratios based on the number of veterans who work at the agencies and departments hit by the DOGE layoffs, plus the number of known layoffs, House Democrats estimate that more than 5,800 veterans have lost their jobs so far. That number seems sure to rise.
By far the biggest chunk of veterans who lose their jobs would be at the Defense Department, where vets make up more than 43% of the workforce, Democrats say. The Treasury Department, Justice Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs could also see big veteran firings.
Again, these are just estimates. The Trump administration hasn’t released an official number of DOGE-related firings, but potentially tens of thousands of vets could be fired.
“It’s a stunning number, it really is,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.
“These are people who talk about the service of veterans, who take pictures with veterans. They glorify them,” DeLauro said.
“But when push comes to shove, they’re putting these families in real jeopardy. And the work that they do is in jeopardy. It’s mindless.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schulz (Fla.), ranking member of the MilCon-VA subcommittee on Appropriations, said in a statement that “Trump and Musk have launched an unwarranted and unjustified attack on the veterans and military spouses who sacrificed so much for all of us.”
The dispute over DOGE and veteran firings comes as House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and GOP cardinals are supposed to meet with Speaker Mike Johnson today to discuss the stalemate over FY 2025 funding.
While the two sides insist they aren’t far apart on funding levels, Republicans refuse to give into Democratic demands for guarantees that Trump will spend funds as approved by Congress. With government funding running out on March 14, a continuing resolution will likely be needed to avert a shutdown.
The issues then become whether that CR would cover the rest of FY 2025 — through Sept. 30 — and whether Republicans could pass it on their own without Democratic support. Even Cole admitted that was unlikely.
“It would be very difficult,” Cole said Monday night. “I think if we put a majority of our votes — which I think we could do — on a CR, that we could credibly argue that we didn’t shut down the government, the other guys did.”
There are other problems with passing a long-term CR. This kind of measure is as difficult to draft in many ways as a massive omnibus funding package. And it won’t include any spending earmarks, which will be a problem for vulnerable members and senators up in 2026.
Across the Capitol, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) huddled with her Democratic counterpart, Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), on Monday night.
Collins — who has floated a short-term CR to allow negotiations to continue — called the session “productive,” although she added that there was no deal yet.
“But we still do not have an agreement on the numbers,” Collins said. “I think that’s the most important aspect of the agreement for us to resolve — the topline, and then under the topline, the amounts for defense and non-defense.”
