Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.), released the following statement after the Biden administration released their fiscal year (FY) 2025 and 2026 budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA):

 

“The Biden administration’s VA budget request is another step backwards, stitched together through risky accounting gimmicks,” said Chairman Bost. “It funds nearly 10,000 fewer healthcare workers, continues to underinvest in renovating and modernizing VA’s facilities, cuts grants for states at a critical time, and relies on questionable estimates. Further, the Biden administration’s budget request throws away the tried-and-true budgeting method that Congress granted to VA nearly three decades ago, that gives the agency the flexibility to revise its budget during the year to manage unpredictable demand for healthcare, benefits, and services for veterans, their families, and their survivors,” Chairman Bost continued. “House Republicans will always fight to ensure that VA has the resources it needs to deliver for the men and women who have served, but the year after year, record-breaking increases in federal spending must be tied to better outcomes. Veterans are still calling my office every day because their benefits are taking too long, or they can’t get the medical appointment they need. That’s a problem. I look forward to Secretary McDonough’s justification for this ten percent increase during the Committee’s budget hearing next month.”

 

To read the views and estimates letter Committee Republicans sent to Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington regarding VA’s FY 2025 budget, click here.