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Notes -
What makes this look crude or incompetent to you? If he cut down something essential by accident I could see your point, but you don't seem to be making that argument.
Anecdotally, medical professionals at the VA are worried about their work being impacted, but I don't know what VA programs are funded by discreet grants. (Social services and research? I know a lot of neurological and psychological research is done through or in association with the VA, and I wouldn't be surprised if they provide a lot of social services that have a separate funding scheme.)
Anecdotally, in the last day I've seen Reddit threads, Facebook posts, and have heard directly from acquaintances who work in government that they worry about their work being impacted. Don't discount the social media effect wherein everyone wants the positive attention that comes with signalling victimization at the hands of the bad man, even before they know if it's actually happening.
The argument previously formulated by these same groups -- "No, it's not happening, but if it is happening it's good" -- is probably a safe fallback response. We can empathetically help anyone who loses their important government job move into the private sector, where their important skills will surely remain valuable.
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