King Statement on Reckless Firings at Togus Medical Center

February 26, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today released the following statement following theterminationof seven employees at Togus Medical Center; five of whom are veterans themselves:
“I amdeeply troubled by the news from Togus that seven Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Maine probationary staffers were terminated yesterday— five of whom are veterans themselves. These firings appear arbitraryand without any strategic thinking; these men and women were fired simply because of their probationary status, not because of their job performance. These employees worked as police dispatchers, managed logistics, and served in the Veterans Experience Office. All these roles play a critical part in delivering the care and support our veterans earned and deserve. Without a police dispatcher, there will not be someone to connect police and first responders as they respond to emergencies at Togus. Without logistics staff, there will not be anyone to distribute incoming supply orders; meaning medical departments across the hospital won’t have timely access to the supplies they need.
“At a time when Maine’s veteran population needs are on the rise, now is not the time for us to ask the hard working staff of the VA to do more with less. The fact that the majority of the Togus firings are veterans themselves adds insult to injury as they work to deliver care to those who served.”
The news comes as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has dismissed1,000 probationary federal employeesand announced plans to cut anadditional 1,400probationary employees in a second round of layoffs — all part of the current Administration’s efforts to trim the federal workforce. Additionally, job cuts across federal agencies are disproportionally impacting veterans who make up nearly30% of the federal workforce. In back-to-backjointhearingsthis week of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC) and the House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC), Senator Kingsounded the alarmon the detrimental impact these reckless firings will have on veteran care and support.
Earlier today at the joint House/Senate hearing, Senator Kingvoiced his wider concern of the VA purge in his opening commentsbefore laying out his policy priorities to The American Legion witness, urging veterans to report of any shortcomings that arise due to the firings:
“We have had 2,400 firings in the last two weeks. Do not forget we had a hiring freeze and with normal attrition, we probably lost another 2,000 people, so we are talking about almost 5,000 people out of the VA Service. It bothers me when people talk about bureaucrats. They say we will protect the doctors andthe direct service workers, but if nobody is in there to answerthe phone when a veteran calls for an appointment, that is a denial of benefits. And so this idea that bureaucrats are not important really galls me. The Secretary said, ‘after all of these cuts, veterans will notice a change for the better.’ It reminds me of the old country song, ‘who will you believe, me or your own lying eyes.’ I want you to tell us what is actually happening.”
Representing one of the states with the highest rates of military families and veterans per capita, Senator King has been a staunch advocate for America’s servicemembers and veterans. A member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), he works to ensure American veterans receive their earned benefits and that the VA is properly implementing various programs such as thePACT Act,theState Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care Flexibility Act,and theJohn Scott Hannon Act.Earlier this month,in a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins, Senator King joined his colleagues in urging for immediate action to secure veterans’ personal information provided by VA or other agencies to Elon Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), a measure that would protect millions of veterans’ medical records stored in VA’s computer systems. Previously, Senator King introducedtheLethal Means Safe Storage for Veteran Suicide Prevention Actto provide firearm storage to veterans in an effort to reduce suicides among the veteran population. In addition, he helped passtheVeterans COLA Act, which increased benefits for 30,000 Maine veterans and their families. Recently, Senator King introducedbipartisan legislationalongside SVAC Chairman Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) to improve care coordination for veterans who rely on both VA health care and Medicare. This week, Senator King was honored by the Disabled American Veterans as its 2025 Legislator of the Year. Last year, he was recognized by the Wounded Warrior Project as the2024 Legislator of the Yearfor his “outstanding legislative effort and achievement to improve the lives of the wounded, ill, and injured veterans.”
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