'We call this a Pearl Harbor': 'Mistreated' Georgia vets 'betrayed' over Trump's layoffs

Veterans working for Atlanta’s Veterans Administration (VA) Health Care System in Georgia say they were “betrayed” by the Trump administration and former Georgia Congressman Doug Collins — who last week was confirmed as President Donald Trump’s veterans affairs secretary — after “nationwide layoffs at the Veterans Administration [impacted] Atlanta’s VA Health Care System,” ABC affiliate WSB-TV reports.

According to WSB-TV reporter Richard Elliot, former U.S. Army First Sergeant Nelson Feliz Sr. said he has been “mistreated” by the Trump administration’s directive to slash funding throughout the federal government.

As WSB-TV reports, the VA, in a Thursday press release, “said the more than 1,000 layoffs would save $93 million a year, which would then be redirected to veterans’ health care, benefits and services.”

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Feliz, who’s been with the VA for 12 years “but just started in a new position in which he’s still in his probationary period,” is among those impacted by the Trump administration’s directive.

According to the report, he received a “‘Notice of Termination’ email from the VA” which told Feliz, “The agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest.”

“I was a first sergeant” Feliz told WSB-TV. “My job was to take care of troops, making sure they were paid, fed, and slept. Why is this happening to us? I’ve been here too long for this to be happening.”

“Why? Why do this? We call this a Pearl Harbor,” Feliz added.

Read the full report at WSB-TV.

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