Days after the Trump administration announced plans to cut funding and jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans across the country joined together to rally against the attack on the crucial federal agency.
According to Stars and Stripes, the group called Fourteenth Now, organized the rally on the National Mall to call for the removal of Trump and push back against the egregious attacks towards veterans and their families.
The group said the date of the rally — March 14th — represents Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, “which states that a person ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion’ after taking an oath of office to support the Constitution should be barred from holding office again,” Stars and Stripes reports.
Veterans in North Carolina also participated in the nationwide rally.
Under Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, thousands of North Carolinians have lost their VA jobs. Last month, ABC11 confirmed that several Durham VA Healthcare System and Fayetteville VA Coastal Healthcare System employees were forced out of their jobs.
In total, the VA is expecting to eliminate 80,000 jobs and cut funding that will impact millions of veterans.
According to PBS, these cuts come at a time when veterans’ healthcare needs are increasing, hundreds of VA centers are facing staff shortages, and approximately 400,000 veterans are uninsured.
“The Trump Administration’s recent move to indiscriminately terminate federal employees at our VA is reckless and will hurt our veterans, service members, and their families,” said Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (NC-04) in a statement.
“The dedicated civil servants at the Durham VA Healthcare System and the Fayetteville VA Coastal Healthcare System work tirelessly each day to deliver essential health care, conduct critical research, and provide invaluable services to our veteran community throughout North Carolina, and this mass firing undermines our sacred promise to our service members and the core mission of the VA itself.”
