Federal Union Claims Veterans Will Kill Themselves If Shutdown Doesn’t End Soon

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Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie is furious after a federal union president said that if politicians don’t end the partial government shutdown, federal employees who are Veterans may kill themselves.

The Daily Caller reports local union president Edward Canales told ABC News that he’s received calls from unhappy veterans who aren’t able to support their families during the shutdown.

Even though they did not express suicidal thoughts, Canales referred them to the Department of Veterans Affairs suicide hotline.

He called the shutdown “shameful” and said it is “slapping every veteran in the face who has served their country.” 

The VA is unaffected by the partial government shutdown and all VA employees are being paid as normal.

In a letter, Wilkie responded by saying the union was exploiting “the real tragedy of Veteran suicide to make political arguments.”

Corrie O'Connor