As First Generation Italian, Gabriel D’Alatri said that he felt it was his duty to serve the country that had provided refuge and security to his family.
At 20, he joined the Marines, where he said he was injured and, consequently, disabled in the service. After turning three years, he went to university and decided to get a federal job to continue showing his commitment to the United States.
On February 26, 2024, a job as a product manager for IRS in Hartford, Connecticut began, thinking that this was the first step in a decades in the federal government. However, on February 20, just five days after his period of probation that ended and with a 6 -month -old baby to take care, he said he was unexpectedly fired.
A sign marks the headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC, on February 20, 2025.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
During the past month, the Trump administration, through the Efficient Department of the Government of Elon Musk, has fired thousands of federal workers throughout the country in the last month, in an effort, he said, to reduce government waste. Among those who have lost their works are veterans, who represent around 28% of the Federal Work Force of Workers as of September 2024, According to federal data. As of February 25, the Democrats in the Assignments Committee of the House of Representatives said At least 6,000 veterans had been fired by the federal government.
A spokesman for the Personnel Management Office, who has headed the effort of “reduction in force” throughout the government, said “OPM recognizes the dedication and service of all federal employees, including our veteran workforce, and remains committed to supporting them during this transition.”
“While the restructuring of the workforce can be a difficult process, we are working to ensure that affected employees have access to available resources and opportunities,” added the spokesman.
In a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last Thursday, President Donald Trump told journalists that he is aware and monitoring the veterans dismissed as a result of Duxt’s cuts.
“We take good care of our veterans, so we are seeing it very carefully,” Trump said. “We hope it is a smaller number, but we are having great success in thinning our government.”
On Tuesday, the White House Secretary Anna Kelly, told ABC News: “President Trump has constantly defended our brave men and women in uniform, delivering crucial reforms that improved the medical care of VA, decreased the decrease in the lack of housing and improved educational benefits.
Gabriel D’Alatri is seen with his uniform of Marines’ body.
Congressman Joe Courtney’s office (CT-02)
On Monday, representative Jen Kiggans, Republican of R-Virginia, sent a letter to the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth requesting the prioritization of veteran employment during the reduction of the workforce.
“Many of these veterans already experience the daily challenges of the transition to civil life, and face such dismissals only add up to their undue burden,” Kiggans wrote, whose district includes 196,000 veterans and 180,000 military employees and the Active Defense Department.
“As a former helicopter pilot of the Navy and conservative of common sense, I think we can responsibly control government waste while guaranteeing that DOD staff with prior military service remains in positions where they can continue to contribute to our national security,” Kigans told ABC News on Monday. “
An extension to your service
Veterans often pursue government work after their time in the Armed Forces, and many see it as an extension of their service. Will Attig, executive director of the Union Veterans Council, said that he often encourages and puts veterans on a road to the races in the Federal Labor Force.
“It is disappointing for me that all the work we did to improve the life of the veterans is to be thrown by the drain,” he said. “As a veteran defender who has fought and worked to make sure to be able to go to a veteran needy and say: ‘Here is a job for you, so that the American dream can live for which he fought’, and then discover everything I told them was a lie, I feel he betrayed me.”
D’Alatri said he was advancing a lot in the company and that he had a brilliant half -year performance review. He said he was in the middle of the working day when his manager called him to tell him that his name was on a list of people to be fired as a result of federal cuts. In approximately an hour, after his manager’s instructions, he informed the office, delivered his team and was escorted outside the office of his office.
D’Alatri said he believes he had gone further in his role. When they gave him three months of parental license when his baby was born, he said he only took a month for concern that was left behind. He pointed out that his loss of employment has forced his wife to end the early maternity leave and return to full -time work.
“I worked tirelessly during the past year. I never called once. This surprises me because the comments I received from the people I worked was great,” he said. “A few years ago, I demonstrated my loyalty. I love this country, we are the backbone of this country. It is really painful and sad because I love this country very much.”
Gabriel D’Alatri, a veteran who was a federal worker and was recently fired, is seen with his wife Sarah.
Congressman Joe Courtney’s office (CT-02)
Attig said that he believes that the government has a lot to lose by dismissing veterans in the federal workforce.
“Miss someone who is dedicated to this country, someone who at a very early age, raised his right hand to say that I will give my life for this country. When they entered the civil service after their military service, they raised the same right hand and said they will commit to maintain the Constitution,” he said.
“The most important thing is that you take away someone who really cares about their country, someone who uses his federal work as a second service,” he added.
Lyndsay Butts is a disabled veteran who served in the Air Force and was an executive assistant in the United States forest service in Cedar City, Utah. She was also fired when her probation period was about to end: she ended on March 9.
‘He feels like a slap on his face’
“Those of us who are veterans We wrote a blank check for our lives and said:” Use how they can support this country. “He feels like a slap to even have the opportunity to defend my work.
“I sacrificed a part of my life and I have lasting luggage of that experience, and are you going to get rid of me?” She added. “Does it throw it like a piece of garbage? It hurts.”
Butts said that you are worried that the shots in your agency cause a great lack of services to forests and the people who enjoy them. Everything, from the bathrooms to the paths, will not be cleaned and maintained properly, the firewood permits are not sold and the camps cannot open, he said.
“They did not bring anyone to ask us: ‘What do you need? What do you not need?’ They have no idea how we operate, “he said. “I just want my job to return. I want my work to come back because my work is necessary. I know my job is important.”
Lyndsay Butts, a veteran and former federal worker of the United States Forest Service, working in a cabin during the Panguitch globe rally in Utah.
Courtesy of Lyndsay Butts
Invoice to restore veterans who are unlikely to pass
To combat uncertainty, these shots have caused veterans throughout the country, representative Derek Tran, a Democrat of California, a veteran of the army, introduced a bill to restore veterans fired from the federal government under Trump. The bill, entitled The Protect Veteran jobs, would also require federal agencies to submit reports to Congress on veteran layoffs and provide clear justifications for termination. D’Alatri sought the help of the representative Joe Courtney, a Democrat of Conn., Who is a co -river of this bill, and will be the special guest of Courtney in Trump’s joint speech to Congress on Tuesday night, Courtney announced.
The newly elected representative Derek Tran, D-Calif., Walk towards a new orientation of members in the United States Capitol, November 14, 2024, in Washington,
Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post through Getty Images, Archive
However, it is unlikely that the bill will be approved in the Chamber led by Republicans.
“I have spoken with some Republicans on the other side of the hall. They have shared that they think it is a great bill, but this is not the right time for them to go to something like this,” Trap News told ABC. “Probably due to what is happening with the administration or fear of reprisals on your part, but that is me speculating.”
He said he believes that the best way people can help veterans is supporting the bill.
“Veterans provide incredible value and experience to our federal government and provide essential services to US families and members,” Tran said. “It is essential that we protect the livelihoods of veterans who have served our country honorably and continue to do so through civil service. Our veterans have always had their backs, and now is the time we let ourselves be notified to have their own.”
On Thursday, February 27, Senator Tammy Duckworth, D -illinois, a combat veteran who serves in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, celebrated a City Council for veterans worried about federal terminations.
“Let’s call Trump and Musk’s Dogs cut what they are: they are a middle finger for our veterans, and they are slapped in the face of the sacrifices they have made,” said Duckworth. “Trump and the unleashed billionaire Elon Musk may not know the first thing about sacrifice and service, but our veterans surely. We will not be silent, and I will never stop working to honor the commitment we have made with the heroes of our nation.”
Earlier this month, Duckworth said the Department of Veterans Affairs was working to refer to several employees who worked in the veterans line after she raised concerns along with Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
“Now, after I raised these cases to go and talked about them, it seems that, fortunately, at least some of these employees will be re -re -listed.” aggregate.
