Veterans were among the several thousand protesters who amassed on the National Mall on Friday to rally against the Trump administration's unilateral deep cuts to the federal government, including at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The veterans who joined Friday's protest ranged from ones who have been frequent protesters to first-timers, from Vietnam veterans to Global War on Terrorism veterans, and from those who have personally been hit by the cuts to those who simply felt it was their duty to speak out as veterans.
"I think it's wrong that veterans such as myself, as well as everyone across the country, has to go through this autocracy, this oligarchy that we live in today," said Vincent Camacho, who added he served in the Air Force for 24 years from 2000 until last year.
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Camacho, who said this was his first-ever protest, said he was fired from the Department of Agriculture recently as the Trump administration purged thousands of probationary employees from the federal government. Probationary employees are ones who were hired or promoted within the last couple of years and were targeted by the Trump administration first because they do not have as many employment protections as longtime employees.
"I thought that I would have a stable job after serving 24 years in the Air Force, and then they just turned around and terminated me for no cause," he said. "Luckily, my wife still has her job, and I do have my retirement benefits. But at what point do they strip that away from me as well? We don't know what this government is going to do."
Friday's protest was organized by a group of progressive advocates calling itself Fourteenth Now, a reference to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
They chose Friday because March 14 is abbreviated as 3/14, a reference to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which disqualifies someone from holding office if they engaged in insurrection. Some on the left believe the amendment means President Donald Trump should not have been allowed to run for office again after his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
While some materials and posts on social media promoted Friday's protests as being veterans-focused, a news release from the organizers said that "freedom-lovers of all backgrounds" were welcome.
The crowd appeared to include a mix of veterans, family members of veterans and left-wing protesters, with signs ranging from general calls to stop Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk's "coup," to ones offering support for Ukraine, to others opposing cuts at the VA.
Trump has empowered Musk to slash the size of the federal government through a White House office dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
The firings across the government have hit veterans hard since they make up about 30% of the federal workforce. Democrats in Congress have estimated about 6,000 veterans have been fired so far.
At the VA, 2,400 probationary workers have been fired. The department also plans to fire more than 80,000 employees later this year.
The VA has maintained that the cuts have not and will not hamper veterans' health care and benefits.
But Military.com spoke with veterans at Friday's protest who said they are already experiencing harmful effects from the cuts. Military.com was not immediately able to verify their accounts.
A Navy veteran who identified himself only as Tom for fear of being retaliated against by the VA said two of his VA therapists took DOGE's buyout offer and were then told they were not eligible for the buyout, only to then be laid off anyway.
"Like a lot of veterans and a lot of people who have served and now no longer do, I feel like I'm in the way," Tom said. "I feel like I am burdensome to others, and this has amplified a lot of that."
Meanwhile, Camacho, the Air Force veteran, said he was on hold for a half hour during a recent call to the VA to ask a "simple question" that should have taken five minutes to answer.
"It's already slowing down," he said.
Asked about the veterans at the protest, the VA on Friday contended the idea that probationary worker firings are causing issues is "false."
"The Biden administration astronomically grew the department's budget and number of employees, and VA wait times and backlogs increased. We are doing things differently," VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz said in an emailed statement. "But the legacy media, government union bosses, and some in Congress are working together to use rumor, innuendo and disinformation to spread fear in the hopes that the department will just keep in place the status quo."
Other veterans at Friday's protest said that, while they are concerned about their own care and benefits, they are more concerned about the overall state of the country.
"Everything that they're doing is illegal and unconstitutional," said Dawn Burson, a Navy veteran who said Friday was her first protest. "I took an oath to defend the Constitution, not illegal action. If people want to dismantle the government, they should do it through Congress, who will make the law, and not through executive overreach."
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