Chicago VA outreach program shut down amid Department of Veterans Affairs job cuts

CHICAGO — The Department of Veterans Affairs will cut tens of thousands of jobs and shut down an outreach program that serves veterans in several Chicago wards.

Alderman Matt Martin, 47th Ward, says he received a notice from the Chicago’s VA office Wednesday morning. It states that effective this week, the VA outreach program will not be able to serve veterans in his ward and surrounding areas.

The program is geared towards connecting veterans to healthcare and housing needs.

“I get completely the desire to make government work better and more efficiently at all levels, including at the city level. But we don’t need to take a bus to our critical programs. That’s exactly what the Trump administration has done here. We are going to have thousands of people across Chicago who are hurt because of it,” said Ald. Martin.

On Wednesday, the Department of Veteran Affairs announced its plan to cut 80,000 jobs. It’s part of the Trump administration working to downsize the federal government.

The VA’s chief of staff says the objective is to cut enough employees to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000.

This would require firing thousands of employees after the VA expanded under the Biden administration.

“We’re going to accomplish this without making cuts to health care or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries. The days of kicking the can down the road and measuring VA’s progress by how much money it spends and how many people it employs, rather than how many veterans it helps is over,” said Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins.

The mayor’s office said in a statement that “we should be adding an additional 80,000 positions to the VA, not cutting them. The Johnson administration is steadfast in our belief that our veterans deserve the best we have to offer.”

As of right now, no word yet from the Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center on how many employees and veterans in Chicago would be impacted by the cuts in the outreach program.