He Served Four Tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. DOGE Just Laid Him Off

Thousands of U.S. veterans transition from their military service to the federal civil service every year, with the federal government maintaining its distinction of the country’s largest employer of vets, many of whom choose to work in government for its stability after a career in the armed forces that is often anything but.

But with sweeping federal workforce terminations under the new Trump administration, many veterans who have served their country for years now face pink slips and uncertainty over their benefits and future career paths.

Trump has pledged to dramatically reduce federal costs and shrink the government workforce, mainly through the White House task force known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is being helmed by billionaire Elon Musk.

In recent weeks, DOGE has recommended firing thousands of federal employees, including more than 1,000 probationary workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) last Thursday evening.

Newsweek has reached out to the VA for comment via email on Wednesday. Newsweek has also reached out to several veterans’ advocacy groups and impacted veterans.

How Many Veterans Are in the Civil Service?

Of the 2,290,825 federal employees working across the government, 642,319 — about 28 percent — were veterans, according to May 2024 data from the Office of Personnel Management shared with Newsweek.

Defense and security-focused federal departments together employ the largest share of veterans among all U.S. federal agencies. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the single the largest employer of veterans in the civil service, with 123,894 on its payroll. The VA has a total of 485,624 employees, according to the OPM data.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is in the process of being dismantled, had 4,684 employees as of May of last year, including 390 veterans. Many more work at the Department of Defense.

Terminated Veterans Speak Out

Certain laws, executive orders and other initiatives have been passed and implemented over the years focused on helping veterans joining the federal workforce after serving in the armed forces. Some are intended to give them a leg up in the application process and protection from job loss.

Last week, disabled U.S. Army Veteran Luke Graziani, who was laid off from his job in public affairs at the VA on Thursday, found otherwise.

Graziani served in the Army for 20 years, completing two tours in Iraq and two more in Afghanistan, before retiring from active duty in 2023.

While in business school, he did some government contract work, but told Newsweek he sought a full-time government job because “I wanted to work towards building another retirement, I wanted to have some job security.”

But at 7:04 p.m. on February 13 Graziani was one of over 1,000 VA employees who received a termination letter, immediately ending his VA career.

The email, which was obtained by Newsweek, read: “The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest. For this reason, the Agency informs you that the Agency is removing you from your position with the Agency and the federal civil service effective February 13, 2025.”

He told Newsweek: “This was not a layoff. When you’re laid off from a job, there’s thing that happen… they talk to you about your leave that’s been accrued,” as well as the federal retirement plan, Thrift Savings Plan (TPS).

He added “there was no exit interview, there was no facility checklist.” He lost access to his email the next day and was “walked out of the building by 3 p.m. with all of my stuff.”

Graziani started in his role as public affairs officer at the VA hospital in the Bronx, N.Y. last March. He was required to was to complete a one-year probationary period before being formally appointed to the position, with a little more than a month before that period was set to end.

Probationary periods for federal employees typically last up to a year, though some go for as long as two years. More than 220,000 federal employees have been in their positions for less than a year, while another 288,000 worked at their respective agencies for one to two years, federal data shows.

The letter did not outline specifics of Graziani’s performance but did note that he “may seek review of this action” and outlined potential avenues.

Three days later, he sent a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins asking point blank for his job back. On Monday, VA chief human capital officer, Tracey Therit, who issued the initial termination notice, responded that department officials were looking into the case.

Graziani, 45, a father of four who lives in Queens, N.Y., said he felt abandoned by his country — the same one he took an oath to protect in the armed services.

“There is a part of me that thinks that I should have been protected in some way, considering you know the 20 years that I’ve sacrificed in my life to serving my country. But I think the reality comes down to is my position at the hospital is a critical role. There’s only one of me doing that job. I can’t see them filling anybody in and doing at the same level of job that I was doing.”

Still, the Army veteran told Newsweek that his experience over the last week has “not tainted my opinion of federal service.”

“I recognize that what’s happening right now is new and unprecedented. And there is stability and job security working in the federal service for sure. And once this bump in the road is passed, I will be pursuing, if I have to, another position.”

Preference in Hiring

Under U.S. law, veterans can get special preference in federal employment so long as they meet certain criteria, such as serving in an active war.

There are various frameworks and legislation meant to help veterans transition into the civil service, including the Veterans Employment Initiative, established by an executive order signed by former President Barack Obama. The initiative is designed to help former service members transition to the civil service by promoting career development, increasing veteran hiring and strengthening retention efforts, among other goals.

Other application preferences are outlined in the form of the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998, a Clinton-era law that allows eligible veterans to compete for federal employment that would otherwise be closed to external candidates. In a similar vein, the Veterans’ Recruitment Act allows agencies to quickly fill positions by appointing eligible veterans without issuing a vacancy announcement.

When layoffs, or “reductions in force” (RIF), are initiated, “certain veterans have advantages over non-veterans in a RIF,” according to the OPM.

Another fired VA employee who was a Navy vet, previously told Newsweek he was “completely blindsided” by being terminated while on paternity leave.

The 35-year-old father of three from Pennsylvania, who was a Navy reserve sailor for 17 years, requested anonymity for fear of reprisal. He started at the agency in 2015 but began a new job last April, kicking off his two-year probationary period.

He echoed similar sentiments as Graziani regarding his benefits, telling Newsweek: “I don’t know what my last paycheck looks like, I don’t even know if I’m getting a severance package, and I have over 700 hours of sick and vacation time. I still have a month left on my paternity leave—I don’t know anything about that. There’s been no communication about anything.”