--- title: "Veterans Furious at Elon Musk" description: "Veterans shafted by cuts from Elon Musk are speaking out — and they don't have much nice to say to the unelected billionaire-in-chief. " date: "2025-03-19" modified: "2025-03-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/veterans-furious-elon-musk" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "doge" - "elon musk" - "military" - "veterans" --- # Veterans Furious at Elon Musk ![Veterans shafted by cuts from Elon Musk are speaking out — and they don't have much nice to say to the unelected billionaire-in-chief. ]() *\Image: VoteVets\* Veterans [shafted by cuts]() from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are speaking out — and they don't have much nice to say to the [unelected billionaire-in-chief](). Released within a few days of each other, new campaigns from VoteVets, a [progressive political action committee](), and the 93-year-old charity [Disabled American Veterans]() (DAV) take Musk and his Republican boosters to task for firing tons of vets in pursuit of seemingly endless austerity. As [*Military.com* reports](), the DAV's "[Protect Veterans]()" campaign has published videos from irked veterans whose roles were eliminated under Musk's DOGE hatchet job. Many were blindsided by their abrupt terminations, which sound very much like the way the billionaire [laid people off at Twitter]() when he first bought it back in 2022. Army veteran and federal emergency management worker Katherine Hathaway, for instance, [said in her video statement]() that she had just been deployed to the US border with Mexico when she found out she was being fired. Her fellow DAV member Andrea Bell, who was fired from the General Services Administration earlier this year, made a plea directly to Musk and president Donald Trump. "I hope that whoever is doing it — the president, DOGE, Elon Musk or whoever — I hope they really sit down and \[are\] like, 'Hey, we are really affecting these veterans here,'" he said. "You know, financial-wise and mental health-wise." https://www.twitter.com/DAVHQ/status/1901995339235615136 While the DAV's campaign hasn't proposed any specific calls to action beyond [raising awareness](), VoteVets is, [as *The Bulwark* reports](), taking a much more direct approach by working to unseat insecure GOP Congress members who have aligned with Musk. "It feels like veterans are being personally attacked by Elon Musk," said one of the fired veterans, who was not identified, during a filmed roundtable discussion for a [VoteVets ad]() seeking to lobby Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA). "I did not put my life on the line for some tech bro billionaire from South Africa to come in here and try to destroy our country." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL_6LpDeEw4 As *The Bulwark* notes, Kiggans and the four other GOP Congress members targeted by VoteVets won their districts by single-digit margins during the last elections, making them prime targets for unseating. Along with encouraging like-minded viewers to call their representatives, the organization is also planning to put up stationary and mobile billboards in the districts that those five Republicans represent. Though these two groups likely have ideological differences, both are dedicated to supporting and advocating for vets — a group that the GOP has [historically courted]() ([and counted on]()) as a key voter bloc. "Hearing from those who sustained illnesses and injuries in honorable service to our nation, only to later be arbitrarily fired via email by the same federal government they’ve devoted their lives to serve, is a gut punch," said Daniel Contreras, DAV's national commander, [in a press release](). "Our nation’s disabled veterans and their families deserve better." **More on Musk and the military:** [*Elon Musk Defends Hitler, Mao and Stalin*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()