Jesse Watters urged Trump and Musk to spare veterans from their federal workforce cuts.Watters said the cuts are hitting home now that he has a friend whose job is on the line.DOGE's cost-cutting affects probationary federal employees, with thousands already laid off.Fox News host Jesse Watters on Wednesday pleaded with the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to spare veterans in their cost-cutting efforts across the federal government.On Wednesday's episode of "The Five," Watters spoke about a 20-year military veteran he met at a shooting event. The veteran is "one of the guys who has killed a lot of bad guys," Watters told his fellow hosts. "Put his life on the line. He punched out after 20 years of working for the Pentagon. And he's only been there a few months, so his probationary period he just found out he's probably going to get laid off."Watters continued, "He's going to get DOGE'd. He texted me and said: 'Jesse, this isn't good. I'm upset. This is really sad.' This guy is not a DEI consultant. This guy is not a climate consultant. This guy is a veteran. So when you're talking about DOGE-ing people, veterans should get priority. Because if you're going to go out there and kill enemies, put your life on the line for this country, you shouldn't be in the same category as people that are doing DEI."As part of Musk and Trump's efforts to trim government spending and reduce the federal workforce, DOGE officials have been looking into the Department of Defense for areas where they can "save taxpayer dollars and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse," according to a post from DOGE on X.DOGE's work at the Pentagon in recent days includes collecting lists of probationary employees typically, staffers who have been in their roles for less than one or two years with the expectation that many of them could soon be terminated, The Washington Post reported.Thousands of federal workers in probationary roles have already been let go across a wide swath of federal agencies, including the Forest Service, the Office of Personnel Management, the Small Business Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Education, and many others.Several military veterans have told Business Insider they're feeling confused, desperate, and terrified about sweeping cuts to the federal government, which may be disproportionately affecting veterans."I finally found one person I knew that got DOGE'd, and it hit me in the heart," Watters said of his friend.Watters also said that, "besides saving my friend," he wants to see DOGE distribute bigger dividend checks an idea the task force is considering but that would have to clear a number of hurdles to be enacted.Prior to his plea on Wednesday, Watters, a fervent Trump supporter, had frequently praised Musk's cost-cutting work, last week calling the Tesla and SpaceX CEO a "corporate turnaround artist" whose DOGE team is "inspiring every American leader to set their standards sky-high."