Lawmakers accuse VA leaders of exaggerating budget deficit

House Republican leaders on Friday criticized Veterans Affairs leaders for exaggerating the budget deficit problem earlier this summer after department officials said their future funding problems were not as severe as they had predicted.

In a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, House Veterans Affairs Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., and House Appropriations Committee Veterans Affairs Chairman John Carter, R-Texas, accused department heads of “misinforming Congress” and ” inciting panic.” among veterans about delays or reductions in their benefits.” They said the misleading information undermines public confidence in the institution.

In September, lawmakers approved a $3 billion stopgap spending bill for the VA after officials warned that benefit payments could be delayed or ended Oct. 1 — the start of the new fiscal year — unless the department was given additional cash reserves. .

Weeks earlier, VA leaders, including McDonough, said the budget shortfall was the result of record-high levels of benefit approvals and health care utilization among veterans in the past fiscal year.

They also warned that Congress needs to provide another $12 billion in funding to cover additional spending in fiscal year 2025. Both chambers were expected to take up the issue when lawmakers return after the election.

But earlier this week, in an update provided to congressional leaders, VA officials said they carried over roughly $5 billion in unspent funds associated with benefit accounts from last fiscal year to this fiscal year. Even if the cash injection had not been approved in September, the department would have had cash reserves of more than $2 billion.

However, VA leaders said in a memo to lawmakers that the budget infusion is needed “because if we were just $1 short, we would not be able to certify our pay files and more than 7 million veterans and survivors would have delays in payment of disability compensation.” pensions and education benefits.”

Bost questioned this logic.

“VA leaders have repeatedly told us that benefit funding is on the verge of drying up and veterans could suffer,” he said in a statement separate from the letter. “But it turns out that this was never true.”

In their update to Congress, VA leaders also said the health department’s bills are not depleting as quickly as expected, although they expect they will still need additional funding to cover the additional workload on the system.

In FY 2024, VA saw its highest level of physician visits ever, with approximately 127.5 million, up 6% from the previous fiscal year. Over the past two years, more than 796,000 veterans have accessed the VA health care system, a 37% increase over the previous two years.

But it’s unclear whether that influx of new patients will require the full $12 billion that VA planners estimated earlier this year.

Bost and Carter in their letter deplored the “flawed” estimates provided to lawmakers in recent months and promised a full investigation into the budget mix-up.

Congress is expected to return to Washington later this month to wrap up the current session before newly elected members take their seats in January. The work in progress includes deciding on the federal budget plan for the remainder of fiscal year 2025. Departments are currently operating under a short-term budget extension that expires in December.