A few hundred people rallied outside a veterans hospital in Ann Arbor this weekend to protest federal cuts to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

President Donald Trump has announced plans to lay off staff, tried to void some federal union contracts, and is calling telehealth workers back into offices that may not have space for them.

State Representative Joe Tate (D-Detroit), a marine corps veteran, said he attended Saturday’s protest as someone who has relied on the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System himself. Tate said it makes him “sick” to see resources scaled back, warning that could bring dire consequences.

“You have these effects where you’re going to put people in the ground, veterans in the ground, if some of these veterans don’t get the services they need,” Tate said.

Read more: 10 year Marine Corps veteran terminated from Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor

Tate and others at the protest frequently brought up threats to funding for the 2022 PACT Act, which aims to help veterans exposed to toxic chemicals via risks like burn pits or Agent Orange, as a top concern.

Earlier this month, Trump signed a spending bill that cuts money for the Act as part of a plan to avoid a government shutdown that some Senate Democrats also eventually backed.

Army veteran Justin Coates attended Saturday’s rally carrying an American flag and a megaphone. He said he slept next to a burn pit during his first tour of duty.

“We used to throw like lithium batteries into it and trash and human waste and stuff like that. I slept next to it night, and we used to joke about how we were all going to die of cancer in a few years. So, when the PACT Act was passed, that was great. We were all excited about that. I was able to get on the registry. I told all my friends about it, all the guys in my squad,” Coates said.

He worries what he and his fellow veterans went through will be forgotten. He said he’s lost more friends to suicide than combat.

“Hearing about the cuts to the veteran crisis line, hearing about veteran crisis-line operators having to operate from their cars or in open air cubicles or what have you, just seeing the absolute lack of care for veterans under the guise of increasing efficiency, it’s frankly insulting to everyone’s intelligence,” Coates said.

Read more: How will cuts to the VA and its services impact veterans?

Leadership at the VA, however, has vehemently denied the changes made will translate to cuts to veterans services. In a video response to concerns posted on February 13, VA Secretary Doug Collins dismissed stories about veterans benefits being cut as “hypotheticals” being circulated in the media.

“Reality is, veterans benefits aren’t getting cut,” Collins said. “In fact, we’re actually giving and improving services.”

Collins said the department is running more efficiently and clearing cases sooner.

Since posting that video, Collins has defended reported plans to let go 80,000 staff from the VA. That’s as the department works with billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency, or D.O.G.E.

A handful of union leaders and elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, and U.S. Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-MI 12) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI 6) criticized the Trump Administrations’ decisions at Saturday’s rally.

Dingell said she fears veterans are getting caught up in a “meat cleaver” being taken to several departments. She said she worried about losing progress, noting both Democratic and Republican administrations have struggled to take care of soldiers after they serve.

“We have to honor our commitment and keep working to go forward. And when you see this many people understanding that we’ve got a moral responsibility (to those) who fought to keep us free, that’s what they’re out here for, fighting for those veterans,” Dingell said.

Michigan has around 479,000 veterans, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

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The Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans to restructure in early March. The agency will eliminate 80,000 jobs according to a memo issued by the VA’s chief of staff. 

The goal is to reduce the number of staff members to pre-pandemic levels. This is another proposed cut to add to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s list of federal job cuts. Under Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), hundreds of jobs have already been cut at the VA.

Read more: 10 year Marine Corps veteran terminated from Veterans Affairs in Ann Arbor

Veterans make up a large percent of federal workers who are already at risk of losing their jobs due to cuts to other departments. They are a substantial portion of the VA workforce too. So the restructuring plans for the Department just makes things even more uncertain. 

They also rely on the VA to provide the essential services that help them return to civilian life after serving. Veterans get housing assistance and health care through the program. 

Today on The Metro, we’re looking at these cuts and how they could negatively impact services for veterans who need it. 

Guests: 

• Kevin Scott: Decorated combat-era Marine Corps veteran who provides therapy and support to veterans who are facing all kinds of challenges after serving.
• Vedia Barnett: Co-founder and executive director of Vet Space, a group for women veterans to share nature-based experiences. 

We also asked our listeners: 

“What is the transition to civilian life like for veterans and their families?”

Ryan, a Marine Corp veteran in Royal Oak, said: “I mean, (the VA has) been my health care service for 20 years, and I’m hoping to be till I die, my service. And if it goes away, you know, that upends my life in a different way. So it worries me.”

Tomorrow’s caller question: “What would allow you to give up your car in southeast Michigan?”

Use the above media player to hear the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on March 25, 2025: 

• The Michigan statehouse is split with Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans controlling the House, making many wonder what bipartisan work can get done this session. To discuss what’s going on at the state capitol, Michigan Public Radio Network political reporter Colin Jackson joined the show.

• Alyce Hartman is the founder and executive director of Birdie’s Bookmobile. She is also a K-4 STEM teacher at Detroit Prep and the Mack Kids director at Mack Avenue Community Church. Hartman travels the city putting books in little hands and is getting ready to open Birdie’s Book Nest. She joined the show to discuss the project.

• Flooding is an issue Detroit residents are constantly facing, with water main breaks, extreme weather events and flooding growing more common over the last few years. Earlier this year, Metro co-host Robyn Vincent spoke with Nick Schroeck, professor of environmental law and dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, about the problem of flooding and some of the solutions that are being proposed to change it.

• We also revisited a conversation with Todd Scott, executive director of the Detroit Greenways Coalition, about pedestrian safety in Detroit. Hear the conversation below beginning at the 47:50 mark.

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Today on The Metro we bring you a conversation with the Detroit Documenters, an organization that trains and pays residents to cover government meetings in southeast Michigan. 

One thing Detroit Documenters is learning at recent meetings is that County Veteran Affairs offices across the state are in a tricky financial situation. Money they usually receive from the Michigan County Veteran Service Fund was miscalculated. 

This comes at a time when President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are cutting funds and firing people in the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, making all financial support more crucial than before.

Metro Producer Jack Filbrandt sat down with Documenter Marcia Hartman and Coordinator Noah Kincade to find out how this accounting came about and its effect on Wayne County. 

County VAs can apply for $50,000 to support veterans. Any money not used from this fund is pooled together and distributed based on the number of veterans living in counties. 

Kincade spoke to Christyn Herman, a public affairs officer at the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. She said more counties used their initial $50,000 which shrank the pot being redistributed across the state. 

The Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency is planning visits and working with county VA offices across the state, Herman said. They understand less money going to counties means fewer veterans being helped. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.