'Surgeries are being canceled!' Senator sounds alarm on Trump's veteran health care layoff

President Donald Trump's interference with the Veterans Health Administration is having real and dire consequences, despite the administration's claims to the contrary, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) told CNN's Jake Tapper on Wednesday.

Trump has already had to reverse multiple cuts to the VA after public outcry, including the termination of 875 contracts that included cancer coverage, burial services for veterans, and doctor recruitment. Nonetheless, they are moving forward with a round of layoffs of people they claim are nonessential.

"Last time you were on the show, we talked about people in the veterans crisis line that had been told they were laid off, although a number of them got their jobs back," said Tapper. "The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that 1,400 people in non-mission-critical positions are getting laid off. This comes after the department, the VA, laid off 1,000 people earlier this month. Tell us your view of these additional layoffs."

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"Well, what they're calling non-mission-critical, I think you and I and the average American would disagree with them that these are non-mission-critical," said Duckworth, herself a disabled double-amputee veteran. "How does a surgeon perform an operation without a surgical nurse, without a surgical assistant?"

"We're already hearing that surgeries are being canceled or postponed at the VA," Duckworth continued. "I have one person who is a crisis hotline supervisor. This is someone who did such a good job, they were promoted. Now they're training other crisis hotline — the people who answer the phones there with them, they're being trained up to answer the phones. And that person is still laid off?"

The bottom line, she said, is that "Donald Trump has fired more veterans than any other president in our recent history. And this has to stop, because these are hardworking people. And it's really an insult to all of the federal employees who are making sure that the system is running. You know, some of these folks are people who do claims processing, making sure the veterans have access to their benefits that they've earned, they've been laid off."

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