Photo by Kadir Celep

Among the Republican voters experiencing buyer’s remorse are more than a few military veterans who chose Trump over Harris by a margin of 65 to 34%, according to some exit polls.

Their shock and dismay surfaced in DC this month during the legislative conference of the reliably conservative and hawkish Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), which has 1.4 million members.

In the run-up to that annual event, VFW national commander Al Lipphardt, urged his members to “march forth” and “engage with lawmakers” to “stop the bleeding” at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Thanks to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) , the VA now faces disruption of its benefit claims handling, healthcare delivery, data security,critical medical research, and stable employment for 100,000 former service members.

The VFW’s resulting Capitol Hill visit on March 4 was not exactly the second coming of the militant march on Washington, in 1932, by 30,000 jobless World War 1 vets. During that confrontation, leaders of the VFW and American Legion provided political cover for Herbert Hoover, the conservative Republican president who ignored veteran unemployment (and, like Trump, championed small government).

Now, the VFW’s condemnation of Trump’s mass firing of vets is such a welcome break with past Veteran Service Organization (VSO) subservience to the White House that even VSO critics are impressed. Iraq war vet and VFW life member Kris Goldsmithcalls it “historic” and “nothing short of extraordinary.”

Bleeding Gets Worse, Not Better

Nevertheless, as Goldsmith argues, it will take a lot more than issuing press statements, presenting hearing testimony, and politely lobbying legislators to stop the further “bleeding” that will result from a VA “reorganization” first reported March 5.

According to an internal memo, Trump’s new VA Secretary Doug Collins intends to cut 80,000 more jobs—contrary to his confirmation hearing testimony before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC) on Jan. 21.

On that occasion, the ex-Congressman from Georgia assured his former Capitol Hill colleagues that “we’re not going to sacrifice veterans’ benefits to do a budget.” This helped the right-wing Air Force Reserve chaplain get confirmed, with virtually no SVAC opposition, and by a 77 to 23 Senate vote in his favor.

Despite the leaked document from VA headquarters, President Trump........

© CounterPunch