May 07, 2025

Duckworth to Trump’s VA Secretary: Your Work to Rehire Veterans Crisis Line Workers You Wrongly Fired Is Not Complete

Senator criticized Sec. Collins for erroneously firing workers with Veterans Crisis Line without cause, jeopardizing the lives of Veterans who depend on it

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – As Donald Trump and Elon Musk continue their all-out assault against the VA and the brave Veterans it serves, today combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (SVAC)—called out VA Secretary Doug Collins for erroneously firing 24 probationary employees with the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL)—employees who help provide life-saving care and critical resources needed by Veterans in their darkest moments. While the VA may have reinstated some workers, Duckworth made it clear at today’s SVAC hearing that every position at the VCL is mission-critical and none of the fired or rehired workers should have been fired in the first place. The Senator also highlighted that the lack of transparency surrounding these VCL firings in the wake of mass layoffs underscores the urgent need for greater oversight from Congress. Duckworth’s full remarks can be found on the Senator’s YouTube.

“While I’m relieved Secretary Collins is finally telling the truth and acknowledging that that Veteran Crisis Line employees were fired—and that this was due to his incompetence, not malicious intent—Secretary Collins himself acknowledged that as of today, he has still failed to reinstate all probationary employees, while conveniently refusing to disclose exactly how many wrongfully terminated VA civil servants are still waiting to get back to work serving our Veterans,” said Duckworth. “The firing of these mission-critical employees was shrouded in a lack of transparency that cannot be tolerated. If Secretary Collins wants to make cuts to the Veterans Crisis Line, he should report them to Congress so we can ensure these cuts won’t weaken the VCL’s mission. The lives of our Veterans in crisis depend on this lifeline—and I’ll keep pushing to defend it.”

Duckworth has been a fierce leader and advocate for VA staff and Veteran Crisis Line (VCL) workers in the wake of the disastrous Trump-Musk layoffs at the VA. Last week, Duckworth slammed a senior official from the VA after he failed to publicly commit to rehiring VCL workers who were wrongfully fired in Trump-Musk layoffs.

After the Trump Administration’s indiscriminate purge of Veterans and VA employees, including staff who help operate the VCL, Duckworth led her fellow Democratic colleagues in demanding answers from Trump and VA Secretary Doug Collins on exactly who was impacted—requesting a list of public answers detailing the specific job categories that were impacted, how many of those fired were Veterans and more. After the first purge at VA laid off workers with the VCL—including several Veterans—Duckworth successfully pushed the Trump Administration to reinstate these devoted public servants that work to support our Veterans in their darkest moments.

Last month, Duckworth introduced a resolution to condemn the Trump-Musk layoffs and demand the immediate reinstatement of all Veteran federal employees illegally and indiscriminately fired since Trump took office. Ultimately, Republicans blocked the resolution.

Pushing for 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 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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