More than 30 people came together in Butler Saturday to rally against Department of Government Efficiency efforts to make cuts in the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA provides health care for veterans, but after recent DOGE-related budget cuts, the department could slash thousands of positions. Rallygoers on the Route 23 pedestrian bridge say the cuts will have a trickle-down effect not just on veterans resources and filing, but everyone. "We are concerned that tens of thousands of veterans that work for the VA are going to be losing their jobs. We worried that will also impact on the veterans that depend on the VA to get the care they need,” said lead organizer Dianne Douthat, of Wayne Indivisible. “We’re also concerned about all the firings of government employees. How will people get help from the IRS if there is nobody there to answer the phone? How will people get help from Social Security?" Wayne Indivisible, Sussex Indivisible, Kinnelon United and Resistance Alliance hosted the event. Organizers also hosted a Support Ukraine rally along the sides of Route 23. "We understand the importance of NATO and our alliance there. It's what's kept World War III from happening for nearly eight decades and when we support Ukraine, we are supporting peace, we are supporting people, we are supporting democracy," Douthat added. The war has been going on for more than three years now. Organizers said the goal of the rally and event were to spread awareness of the impacts of DOGE-related cuts.

A representative from the VA issued a statement to News 12, saying the the "Biden Administration astronomically grew the department’s budget and number of employees, and VA wait times and backlogs increased."

"VA health care has been on the Government Accountability Office’s high-risk list since 2015. It is still on the list to this day. In other words, VA has had serious problems for at least ten years running. That’s why our efforts to reform the department are so important. VA has laid off 2,400 probationary employees in non-mission-critical positions, such as publicists, interior designers, and diversity, equity and inclusion officers. That’s one half of one percent of VA’s workforce. So the notion that these layoffs are causing issues across the department is false."