Duckworth Slams VA Official for Refusing to Commit to Rehiring Veterans Crisis Line Workers Fired by Elon Musk’s DOGE
Senator also condemned Trump’s disastrous cuts worsening Veterans’ access to mental health care
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of both the U.S. Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs (SVAC) and Armed Services (SASC)—slammed a senior official from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) after he failed to publicly commit to rehiring Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) workers who were fired in Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s indiscriminate mass layoffs of federal workers. Duckworth pressed the VA official on the importance of maintaining robust mental health and suicide prevention resources for Veterans amid the Trump Administration’s ongoing cuts to the VA, which have already made it harder for Veterans to access quality health care. Video of Duckworth’s remarks can be found on her YouTube.
“From the mass layoffs of federal workers, including Veterans working with the Crisis Line, to canceled contracts and continued attacks on Veterans belonging to underserved communities, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are intentionally attacking morale and exacerbating mental health workforce shortages at the VA,” said Duckworth. “It is unacceptable that Trump’s VA refuses to fix their errors and reinstate all VCL workers who have been fired, especially as the Trump Administration’s policies continue to undermine the mental health and well-being of patriotic Americans who have served our nation honorably. We cannot endure more chaos at the risk of delaying mental health care and suicide prevention services for our Veterans.”
During her questioning, Duckworth highlighted how she has advocated for several workers with VCL and pressed Thomas O’Toole, MD—the Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Health for Clinical Services and Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the VA—on whether he would commit to rehiring all VCL workers fired by Elon Musk—essential workers who provide emergency mental health services to Veterans in crisis. After Mr. O’Toole refused to make that commitment, Duckworth replied, “I think it should be more than just the people being handled by my office. There are many people across the country who have now been laid off who have worked on Veterans’ mental health programs. Those people need their jobs back—especially if they themselves are Veterans.”
Duckworth has been a fierce leader and advocate for our Veterans who have been fired in the disastrous Trump-Musk layoffs across our federal workforce. Earlier this month, Duckworth introduced a resolution to condemn these layoffs and demand the immediate reinstatement of all Veteran federal employees illegally and indiscriminately fired since Trump took office—a resolution Republicans blocked.
This resolution came after Duckworth and U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) introduced their Protect Veteran Jobs Act last month, legislation that would reinstate the thousands of Veterans who were fired in the Trump-Musk layoffs. Duckworth and Kim subsequently introduced their legislation as an amendment to Republicans’ slush fund continuing resolution. Republicans shamefully blocked it from passing.
In February, Duckworth also joined SVAC Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and a group of 34 Democratic Senators calling on Department of VA Secretary Collins to immediately reinstate the more than 1,000 VA employees terminated earlier that month who serve Veterans and their families nationwide, including critical employees addressing Veteran suicide working at the Veterans Crisis Line.
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