BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — Fear, anxiety, betrayal.
These are what the veterans caught in the crosshairs of DOGE cuts are feeling as their future as public servants remains uncertain.
“It’s been a roller coaster of emotions,” Marine Corps veteran Octavia Hatem said.
Some spoke publicly for the first time on Tuesday at a roundtable with Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen at Towson University.
Van Hollen repeatedly called the federal government’s actions “illegal”.
“It’s a terrible thing when people who served our country and worked to protect our country, are now being harmed by their own country,” he said.
An estimated 6,000 veterans in Maryland have been impacted by federal government layoffs.
Vincent Camacho, 24 year veteran of the Air Force, spent his military career working in active combat zones for the United States.
“I’m now more fearful working for the federal government right now than I have been my entire life,” Vincent Camacho said.
Initially laid off from the Department of Agriculture as a probationary employee, he received an email this week that he was reinstated but placed on administrative leave.
Veterans hold roundtable with Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen regarding fears over DOGE cuts
“How is that efficient to keep paying federal employees, but telling them not to work and not to do their job? That’s the opposite,” Van Hollen said.
It’s done little to put Camacho at ease.
“In the back of my head I’m still thinking, do I need to be actively looking for further employment? And if so, do I have to uproot my high school kids and move them out of the state?” Camacho said.
“It feels like those that are in power are living comfortably while exploiting the sacrifices of veterans,” Ronald Mark Hill, another reinstated worker, said.
Two other federal employees also recently reinstated were scheduled to attend Tuesday’s event, but chose not come at the last minute.
The low morale extends beyond those without a job.
"They have this profound sense of betrayal,” David Radcliffe, a former special operations employee said about his still employeed former colleagues. “This is not what we stand for and it's both tragic and horrifying at the same time."
Cuts at the department of Veterans Affairs have also stirred up worry.
That’s where Hatem had been working as a contractor before her termination.
She says it was a way to give back to the organization that she says was a “lifeline” for her, that also employs many veterans.
“We assumed that these benefits and that our country would take care of us when we are finished with our service,” Hatem said.
Van Hollen says he’s bracing for DOGE’s next round of efforts to lay people off through the “Reduction in Force” process.
“That does have very clear procedures that have to be followed and that includes notice to Congress. So we are going to be very vigilant about making sure number one they comply with the rules, but number two aren’t using big RIFs to violate the Impoundment Control Act,” Van Hollen said.
That being, a requirement of the Executive Branch to honor Congress’ power of the purse.
He says though the courts have been handling the issues arising with DOGE, he’s been “disappointed” by the response of his Republican colleagues.
He says he'll continue to reach out across the aisle on this issue.
Resources for Veterans:
COMPACT ACT
(covers care costs during an acute suicide crisis )