U.S. Army Sgt. Derrick Allard in Iraq on September 18, 2009

Since Donald Trump's return to the White House six and one-half months ago, his administration has — with the help of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — carried out mass layoffs at a variety of federal government agencies, from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to the National Weather Service (NWS). Trump claims the layoffs are designed to combat "waste, fraud and abuse," but his critics argue that he is making these agencies less efficient by depriving them of skilled, highly trained personnel.

Another agency being gutted by the Trump Administration is the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). And some veterans, according to The Guardian's Aaron Glantz, fear that Trump has inflicted major damage on the agency's ability to help them.

"The Department of Veterans Affairs has lost thousands of healthcare professionals deemed 'core' to the system's ability to function and 'without which mission-critical work cannot be completed,' agency records show," Glantz reports in an article published on August 11. "The number of medical staff on hand to treat veterans has fallen every month since Donald Trump took office. The VA has experienced a net loss of 2000 registered nurses since the start of this fiscal year, the data show, along with approximately 1300 medical assistants, 1100 nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses, 800 doctors, 500 social workers and 150 psychologists."

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Glantz continues, "The numbers are at odds with claims by the VA secretary, Doug Collins, that veterans' healthcare would not be affected by an agency-wide reduction of 30,000 workers to be completed this year through a combination of attrition, a hiring freeze and deferred resignation program."

Downsizing at the VA, according to Glantz, is raising fears that the Trump Administration is hoping to see the agency privatized.

The Trump-era VA told The Guardian that privatization fears are a "left-wing canard," claiming that "anyone who says VA is cutting health care and benefits is not being honest." But Manuel Santamaría, a disabled 42-year-old U.S. Army vet who served as a medic in Iraq and Afghanistan, is angry over VA cuts.

Santamaría told The Guardian, "It's a betrayal. It takes away the government’s accountability to veterans who have sacrificed for them."

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Santamaría suffers from severe psoriasis, which, according to Glantz, may be connected to "wartime toxic exposure." And he says that problems scheduling appointments have "gotten much worse" under Trump.

"In February," Glantz reports, "when his medication ran out, Santamaría sought to switch to a different drug, but was unable to schedule an appointment with the VA until May. By then his entire body was covered by cracked, bleeding welts."

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Read Aaron Glantz's full report for The Guardian at this link.