BALTIMORE — To Air Force veteran Jeromie Williams, his benefits are incredibly important.
"It supports my entire livelihood. I am living on my benefits. It allows me to go to school, and I get the housing stipend that pays for my living expenses," Williams said.
But after the Department of Veteran Affairs fired more than 1000 employees, veterans are facing a lot of uncertainty.
The agency is saying the move is meant to direct $98 million to health care, services, and more for beneficiaries.
"I have seen a huge uptick in veterans reaching out to just say, 'Hey, what does this mean for my case, for my situation?" said Andy Gross, attorney at Guidon Law specializing in veterans benefit claims.
He told WMAR 2 News he finds it very unlikely that Congress would cut any veterans benefits or disability pay.
VA Secretary Doug Collins posted a video on X assuring veterans their benefits won't be touched.
But Gross warned veterans if there are cuts, Congress may be looking at what you're saying.
"They will judge other veterans for seeking VA disability benefits. Like you're not entitled to that benefit because you were only a desk clerk doing whatever. My fear is that that's going to be used to justify cutting benefits for everybody."
There's still a question of whether or not vacancies in the VA will affect efficiency, causing things to slip through the cracks.
"Candidly, the VA has been a mess since I guess—there's never been a time in my practice that the VA hasn't been a mess," said Gross, "I've been in this practice for 8 years, and I've been finding mistakes in claims that are occurring 10 years before I was even born."
Jeromie, however, remains worried.
"Cause I'm doing the Veteran Readiness and Employment program so that gives me a case manager, and I am worried I haven't heard anything from her, but I am worried I haven't heard anything from her, but I am worried if for next semester when I want to apply if she isn't there or if she has too much on her workload with other veterans."
If troubles do arise, Jeromie says he'd be devastated.
"It definitely feels like kind of a betrayal. You sign up, you put your life on the line, and then when you get out, you're told you have these certain benefits that are afforded to you that will continue the improvement of your life after your service. And to have that removed... yeah, it's almost unthinkable, and really, it's almost like a nightmare, so I just couldn't imagine that."
Senator Chris Van Hollen issued this statement.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to our veterans that we can never fully repay—but what we can do is ensure our veterans are taken care of when they return home. Millions of veterans count on the VA, but Trump and Musk are threatening their access to these critical services by purging the merit-based federal employees who deliver them. This is idiocy, not efficiency, and an insult to the men and women who served this country. It’s another example of Trump’s betrayal of working Americans, which is why I’m fighting it with everything I’ve got.”
We've reached out to Rep. Andy Harris for comment, and have not heard back as of publishing time.
In the meantime, Silent veterans Inc. and Make This House is hosting a Thursday VA claims clinic at Reveille Grounds, from 10am to 2pm.