On Friday, roughly 100 veterans gathered outside the state Capitol in part to protest any job cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which serves nearly 50,000 Montana veterans.
The Trump Administration wants to cut 80,000 jobs from the VA system. It says veterans wouldn’t see any impact to their care.
Retired Army Colonel Jim Klingaman took issue with what he saw as a lack of response from Sen. Tim Sheehy. Sheehy is a former Navy SEAL and sits on U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
“Why are you allowing this Musk-DOGE nonsense to adversely affect your comrades?" Klingaman asked.
In response to MTPR’s interview request, Sheehy in a statement said, “I will work with our federal partners to ensure cost-saving measures are targeted responsibly and the critical frontline services and resources Montana veterans rely on are protected."
Mikol Felber, who served in the Army National Guard says, "Vets are scared they might lose those frontline services.
“I receive physical therapy as well as other additional benefits, PTSD, a primary care provider," Felber says.
Felber isn’t alone. Jeff Schepp with the Montana VFW says he’s constantly fielding calls from vets like him. Schepp says the Trump Administration needs to be careful with cuts in rural states like Montana because staff are already doing multiple jobs.
“If they cut one person or two, that could be a serious consequence in some of these smaller areas,” he says.
Schepp isn’t just worried about losing doctors or nurses. He says losing staff that help vets enroll in VA benefits or review that paperwork could mean long delays or some vets not getting care at all.
