Veterans rally in McHenry against ‘goal’ to cut tens of thousands of VA jobs

Over 200 people gathered outside the McHenry Veterans Affairs Clinic with signs and flags Sunday afternoon to protest against potential nationwide staff cuts to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.

The rally, sponsored by Illinois Veterans for Change, included speakers like former McHenry County Board member Lou Ness and Kat Abughazaleh, a political newcomer who’s running for Congress in Illinois’ 9th District long held by Democrat Rep. Jan Schakowsky.

[ More photos: Veterans rally against VA job cuts  ]

Many signs had similar messages to previous protests in recent weeks and months in Algonquin, Crystal Lake, Richmond and Harvard in opposition to the current Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency.

Sunday’s rally was to shed light on potential cutting of 80,000 jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs, a number that Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins has called “a goal.” But he has also said the administration is “never going to put in jeopardy patient health care or the disability benefits getting to the people who need them, the veterans who have earned them,” according to published reports.

But some at Sunday’s rally said workforce cuts will only hurt veterans, who also represent a sizable percentage of the VA’s workforce.

Marine veteran and Johnsburg resident Larry McQueeney said he attended the rally to send the message that nothing needs to be cut from veterans’ assistance, if anything, the VA needs more employees to keep up with the high demand.

“It’s going to be devastating,” he said.

Clay Erickson, an Air Force veteran from Waukegan, spoke about his concerns about recent policies of President Donald Trump’s administration, from widespread tariff proposals to the VA cuts.

“I volunteer at the VA medical center in North Chicago and I see firsthand just how important our medical coverage is for veterans and we cannot afford to lose any staff, period,” he said.

Crystal Lake resident Walter Moist IV, who recently lost in the election for District 155 school board, spearheaded the event with support and sponsorship from Illinois Veterans for Change, a group that supports Democratic veteran candidates, according to its website. The rally was called “Retreat, Hell! We Just Got Here” from a World War I quote made by a Marine officer in the trenches of France.

Moist was charged earlier this month with violating an order of protection, a misdemeanor, according to McHenry County court records. According to court records, Moist picked up his son from the parking lot a Crystal Lake restaurant on March 26, and that violated an order of protection against him that forbids him from going on the premises of the restaurant while the person who took out the order is there.

“This isn’t about me,” Moist said of the rally. “I’m just doing what I can.”

Moist said he hopes the rally raises awareness for local Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, especially as the Woodstock VFW Post 5040 is looking for a new home after it closed its bar in 2023. It is working with the Woodstock Marine Corps League and American Legion to form an American Veterans Alliance group that would serve McHenry County veterans and their families.

Moist said he put on the protest to “raise a ruckus” and raise awareness of the veterans on the area in hopes that elected officials will pay more attention to McHenry County.

“I’m sick of McHenry County being fly-over country,” he said.

Abughazaleh said she hears many voters in McHenry County say they don’t feel heard.

“This is a representative democracy,” she said. “Everyone deserves to be represented and our leaders aren’t doing that. Not just here, but everywhere.”

Schakowsky is in her 14th term in Congress and has said refuted reports that she is retiring, saying she will announce if she will run again on May 5. Abughazaleh is a 26-year-old internet personality and former journalist who’s lived in Illinois less than a year and received significantly more financial support in her campaign’s first week than Schakowsky did in the entire first quarter of 2025, federal records show.

Ness, an Army veteran, lost reelection to the county board last year and ran unsuccessfully this month as a write-in campaign for Woodstock City Council. She urged people to resist Trump’s policies with “hope and light and optimism.”

“I lost my two campaigns,” she said. “But I promise you it doesn’t matter because I am a veteran. And I swore an oath to everyone of you, Americans, that I would defend the constitution of this country against enemies foreign and domestic.”

Illinois Veterans for Change chair Jesse Rojo also recently lost his race for Barrington Village Board by less than 100 votes, he said. He noted the tighter margins Illinois Democrats is seeing in the polls. McHenry County remains red overall, though deeply divided, with President Donald Trump performing better in 2024 than he did four years before, winning 52% of the vote in November and just under 50% in 2020. The McHenry County Board also expanded its Republican majority in November.

“We have to fight smarter,” Rojo said. “Let’s go build a better tomorrow.”

More protests criticizing the president are expected to happen in the future. A nationwide protest on May 1 already has over 900 rallies planned, including Palatine and DeKalb, according to the May Day Strong website. McHenry County National Organization for Women also has a “United We Resist” rally planned for June 8 in Woodstock.