Veterans caught up in mass federal layoffs — and the smoke hasn’t cleared

Welcome back! Thank you to everyone who responded to last week’s Pentagon Rundown with story suggestions and tips. I deeply appreciate that you took the time to share your insight, and you have a standing invitation to continue to provide story ideas to me and the rest of the Task & Purpose team. If I haven’t responded to you, it’s because my computer is even slower than a government-issue desktop.

Several of you wrote in to express concern about how veterans are affected by the thousands of recent layoffs at federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs as part of an ongoing effort by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to streamline the government. Since veterans make up roughly 30% of the more than 2.2 million people who work for the federal government, the veteran community has likely been hit hard by these mass firings, national commander for Veterans of Foreign Wars, Al Lipphardt wrote in a recent statement.