Democrats ask White House to disclose how many veterans have been fired by Doge

Democrats have called on the White House to disclose how many military veterans have been fired in the ongoing cuts by Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge).

Amid a drumbeat of outrage over Musk’s anti-government assault, a letter from 12 senators to Charles Ezell, acting director of the office of personnel management, highlights the impact on former armed forces service members.

“We write to express great concern about how many US military veterans are being fired from the federal workforce as part of Elon Musk and President Trump’s mass layoffs,” the senators write.

“This is upending the lives of veterans and their families who have already given so much in service to our country.”

Congressional Democrats are attempting to propel the issue centre-stage by inviting laid-off military veterans to attend Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The senators’ letter attempts to spell out how Musk’s activities have had tragic human consequences and calls on Ezell to document how many veterans have been affected or will be. They cite data noting that as of 23 February at least 6,000 former service members have already lost their jobs.

The letter poses a series of detailed question about whether the likely effect on former service members were studied before Musk and his Doge team embarked on their cuts, which critics say have been unjust, arbitrary and – in numerous cases – illegal.

Veterans are given preferential treatment in civil service job applications and make up an estimated 30% of the federal workforce. More than 640,000 of them worked in federal jobs before Musk’s aggressive headcount-cutting crusade began.

“All federal employees deserve fair treatment and recognition for their service to the American people. Veterans bring great value and skillsets earned through their military service to the federal government. To lay them off with no forethought is disrespectful to their service and damaging to our federal government,” the letter continues.

Democrats are focusing on the plight of veterans as well as warning signs on the wider economy as a potential platform to push back against Trump’s radical agenda. Since Trump took office in January, federal cuts have stretched far and wide in tandem with an avalanche of executive orders.

The senators’ letter also spotlights proposed Republican budget cuts of up to $2tn to help fund a massive tax cut. Democrats say these are likely to signify deep reductions to Medicaid and Medicare – services used by many veterans.

“Republicans are cutting Medicare and Medicaid and firing veterans to create budget room for a tax cut for the wealthiest people to ever walk the planet,” Brian Schatz, a senator from Hawaii and a signatory to the letter to Ezell, told the Washington Post. “I don’t think we should ever stop saying that.”

Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat senator from Massachusetts and another signatory, said her party would also highlight Trump’s failure to address grocery prices, which he campaigned on during last year’s presidential election.

“He said he would lower prices for American families, quote, ‘on day one’. So far, he has done virtually nothing to lower prices or even to indicate that it’s somewhere on his radar screen,” she said.

The Democrats’ determination to press an offensive against Trump comes against the backdrop of a looming government shutdown if Congress cannot agree on a budget settlement by 14 March.

While Republicans have narrow majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, they need Democratic support to pass a budget resolution. This is unlikely to be forthcoming with the Democrats demanding congressional restraint on Musk’s job-cutting efforts.

“I’m not optimistic. I don’t think we’re going to have a budget,” John Kennedy, a Republican senator for Louisiana, told NBC this week.

“My Democratic colleagues have been insistent that we include language limiting the involvement of the executive branch on spending decisions.”