“Hands Off” Veterans’ Protest Raises Questions About Trump’s Sweeping VA cuts in SLO
Jarrod Zinn
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Local veterans held a “Hands Off” protest this morning.
They’re questioning President Trump’s sweeping cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Trump administration released an internal memo in march announcing a drastic reorganization of the VA, according to the Associated Press.
Trump officials say up to 15% of the workforce could be cut, eliminating approximately 72,000 positions.
“The congressman opposes it emphatically,” says Greg Haas, district representative for Salud Carbajal. “He’s a veteran himself, but really, this is about all the veterans. This is one of the things he writes letters about or talks about to the secretaries and directors of we need more staff, We need you hiring more staff.”
It would return the department to 2019 staffing levels, and require staff to work from their offices full-time, eliminating remote and tele-work staff.
“Our veterans need more, not less,” says Haas. “Because they’ve done a great service for us. And we need to recognize that and honor that.”
An assembly of nearly a hundred veterans gathered for a peaceful “Hands Off” protest at the Veterans’ Memorial Building in San Luis Obispo Monday morning, receiving supportive honks from passersby.
“I just think all of these budget cuts are awful,” says Carolyn Biedinger, wife of a Vietnam veteran. “Asking people to go to war and to kill other people and then come home and fit in is very difficult. And so the vets need mental health programs as well as medical care.”
The protesters criticized secretary of defense Pete Hegseth’s treatment of women soldiers, stood in honor of their loved ones who served and died, and expressed hope that the VA will not be gutted.
“I think there’s an encouragement of male dominance and misogyny and that women aren’t equal,” says U.S. Navy veteran Tina Miller. “That’s somewhat antiquated, isn’t it?”
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in late March that the cuts to the VA were about efficiency, not slashing benefits or health care.
“Now there’s one thing that’s going on around everywhere I go. And I’m just going to address it upfront,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins. “No disability benefits are being cut and no benefits of anything are being cut. And no health care budgets are being cut. Those are things that we do inherently.”
All branches of the military were represented by the attendees of Monday’s demonstration, and veterans were present from as far back as World War II.
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