MENG INTRODUCES LEGISLATION PROVIDING BACK PAY TO UNJUSTLY FIRED VA EMPLOYEES

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (NY-06) introduced legislation to require full back pay for employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) who were unjustly fired and later reinstated. The Reinstating Employee Salaries to Original Rates and Entitlements (RESTORE) Act (H.R.3192) would apply to all VA employees who were terminated and later rehired on or after January 20, 2025.

In January, the President issued an Executive Order calling for significant reductions in the federal workforce in conjunction with the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).” Department communications show that as of March, VA officials had already fired 6,000 employees, and were planning to cut another 80,000 jobs, which would return staffing to 2019 levels. In addition to career civil servants, these actions have mainly targeted probationary employees, who have been in their positions for less than two years or recently received a promotion. As a result, thousands of veterans and federal workers have been terminated across multiple federal agencies, including the VA. These employees were responsible for providing core VA services, including health care, benefits services, housing loans, and burial and memorial services, among others.

This year, Meng invited Luke Graziani, a constituent from Woodside, Queens and a 20-year U.S. Army veteran who was unjustly fired from his job as a public affairs officer at a New York City veterans’ hospital, as her guest to President Trump’s address to Congress in March to stand against the ongoing mass firings of federal employees and veterans. He was among the tens of thousands of federal workers that the Administration has unfairly terminated across the federal government since January. 

“VA employees, like Luke Graziani, take an oath to serve our veterans, regardless of who is in the Oval Office. Without them, veterans would be left without the care and benefits they were promised when they made the commitment to serve and protect our nation,” said Meng. “These dedicated public servants, many of whom are veterans themselves, should never have been fired from their jobs. The RESTORE Act guarantees back pay for thousands of these illegally fired VA employees who have devoted their careers to serving our communities. They are not government waste, nor are the salaries they rely on.”

“From Los Angeles, CA to Queens, NY and everywhere in between, hardworking federal employees have been harassed, ridiculed, and mistreated by this administration since day one,”said Geddes Scott, President of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1988–NY/NJ VA Council 246 which represents VA employees in New York and New Jersey. “AFGE NY/NJ VA Council 246 and AFGE Local 1988 supports legislation that would reinstate, compensate and recognize civil servants at the Department of Veteran Affairs, many of whom are veterans, who were wrongfully fired during their probationary period. They are committed and eager to get back to work taking care of our nation’s heroes and their families.”

Graziani was abruptly laid off in February as the Administration began its attempts at sweeping cuts to the federal workforce. Meng had intervened with the VA on his behalf, urging the agency to reinstate him. He was rehired in April after a federal judge ordered the VA and other federal agencies to reinstate probationary workers who were fired. Fortunately, Graziani was reinstated with backpay, but many VA employees haven’t had the same experience, and current federal law doesn’t mandate the Administration provide it in this circumstance. 

Across the country there are about 2.3 million federal workers who serve their communities each day. Approximately 6,000 federal workers live in Meng’s Congressional District alone.

Now introduced in the House, the RESTORE Act must be passed by the House Committee on Veteran Affairs before it can be brought to the floor for a vote.