Veteran from WNY, fired from VA, will be Schumer’s guest at Trump’s joint address

Press Release, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer

U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer today announced he will bring Western NY’s Alissa Ellman, a disabled Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and was suddenly fired this past week from her job working for the Buffalo VA, as his personal guest to attend President Trump’s Joint Session of Congress.

Under new DOGE directive and President Trump, hundreds of thousands of federal workers, of which 30% are veterans, have been fired in the past month, including 2,400 VA employees, like Ellman.

“Alissa Ellman dedicated her life to service for our country, both in the Army, where she suffered injuries, and here in Western NY helping her fellow veterans while working at the Buffalo VA,” Schumer said. “Firing her, firing veterans and slashing thousands from the VA workforce is outrageous and should be reversed. This is not how you treat our veterans – it’s not just unacceptable, it’s un-American.”

This fire first, ask questions later approach towards cutting jobs and funding is unacceptable, especially when caring for our veterans, Schumer said. Federal jobs give preference to veterans, allowing them to continue serving our country in what was previously a stable government career, which is why approximately 30 percent of the federal workforce are veterans.

“DOGE cuts and Trump’s funding freeze have created chaos in Western NY and kneecapped far too many vets,” Schumer said. “I am all for cutting out inefficiency, but you use a scalpel, not a chainsaw. Jobs and care for our veterans in Upstate NY is not government waste. Even funding to help vets suffering from toxic burn pit exposure, like Alissa, was put on the chopping block. Our nation told our veterans that if they put their lives and health on the line to protect our freedoms, we would take care of them, and now we need the Trump administration to uphold that promise.”

Alissa Ellman said, “I am speaking out because I cannot see how employing veterans in the federal government is fraud, waste, or abuse. Veterans are some of the best people I know. Veterans have sacrificed for this country; they are the ones who have been defrauded – their talents wasted and service abused. For many of us these jobs are more than a job, they are how we continue our service, continue our devotion to make America a better place. I’m not telling you my story for pity; my life will be fine. But we need to be making more thoughtful cuts to the federal workforce, not our vets.”

These funding cuts have also directly hit care for veterans in Upstate NY, with VA workers being laid off in Rochester, Canandaigua, Buffalo, and just last week in Steuben County at the Bath VA facility impacting treatment for veterans suffering from addiction and substance use disorder. Schumer said now more than ever veterans are concerned about their benefits, and VA staffers are concerned about their jobs especially with the Trump administration saying more mass firings are coming soon. Schumer has been leading the charge to stop this in the Senate, most recently demanding VA Secretary Collins demanding they reverse the mass terminations of VA employees and reinstate the workers ensuring our nation’s veterans receive quality healthcare.

Biography for Alissa Ellman:

Alissa Ellman joined the Army National Guard at the age of 17, and she returned from basic training to high school ten days before the September 11th attack which further spurred her desire to serve her country. She deployed to Afghanistan voluntarily from January 2003 to June 2004 as a flight operation specialist. She returned to the Afghanistan with Halliburton from 2005-2008 managing flight line operations in Kandahar. In 2008, Alissa returned to Western New York, started a family and later graduate Magnum Cum Laude from Niagara University with a degree in Special Education.

In 2018, Alissa was diagnosed with a rare adrenal cancer, pheochromocytoma, associated with toxic burn pit exposure during her service in Afghanistan. After 5 years of treatment at the VA, she was deemed 100% disabled, a diagnosis she never envisioned, but knew that she continued to want to serve her community.

In December 2023, she began to apply to work at the Buffalo VA working for the education department to help fellow veterans as that means to give back. Not taking the job for the money, receiving only a few dollars more per month on top of her VA disability payments, but to continue to help the community she cared so deeply about, eventually being hired in April 2024.

She met all the training and meeting production numbers, and in January had a 200% daily production average. When the VA began announcing the cuts under the new administration, she told her friends she was safe because she always exceeded work goals, but she was wrong.

Last week, Alissa found herself locked out of her computer, with both her and her boss thinking at first it was an error, only to later find out she had been fired. Alissa said she never felt so disrespected after giving so much.

She will attend President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress Tuesday evening, March 4th as Senator Schumer’s honored guest.