The Senate passed an emergency bill on Thursday to address a nearly $3 billion shortfall that the Department of Veterans Affairs is facing, sending the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk.
The bill passed by voice vote which would allocate about $2.9 billion in additional funding for the VA. About $2.3 billion of which would go directly to the Veterans Benefits Administration for compensation and pensions. The rest of the funding would go toward readjustment benefits.
The legislation comes after the VA warned lawmakers in July that veterans’ compensation and pension benefit payments, as well as their readjustment benefits, could be delayed next month if Congress doesn’t provide additional funding by the end of the week.
In rare and swift bipartisanship, both the House and Senate passed the spending bill by unanimous consent that avoided taking a recorded vote in each chamber.
The House passed the bill, spearheaded by Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) earlier this week through a procedural vote that didn’t require the full House to be present. The bill includes a mandate that the VA would issue a report on the funding shortage to Congress and include future accountability guidelines to make sure resources are managed properly. The VA secretary would also need to report to lawmakers on any future changes to the budget estimates.
The agency has cited the PACT Act, which expanded benefits for many veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxic materials during military service and that a surge in demand had been underestimated. Republicans are blaming the funding gap on budget mismanagement by the Biden administration.
“The VA shortfall was very foreseeable,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), speaking on the Senate floor ahead of the vote on Thursday. “The VA has been overwhelmed receiving more than 2.4 million claims in 2023, the most ever.”
Paul filed an amendment to offset the funding by rescinding the same amount of Inflation Reduction Act funding for the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, but it did not pass.
Senators on Wednesday grilled leaders from the VA on why they were given just six weeks’ notice of the gap in funding that could prevent veterans from receiving their benefits.
“This is unacceptable that veterans’ benefits are at risk and that the VA did not properly plan for this influx of claims,” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) said during the hearing.
Secretary Denis McDonough also told lawmakers in July that the Department anticipated an additional $12 billion spending gap in 2025. That extra funding could become a sticking point as Republican appropriators and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) work to find a path forward on a continuing resolution before funding expires at midnight on Oct. 1.
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The Republican-led House rejected Johnson’s proposal to extend current funding levels into the next presidential administration that included a Republican proof-of-citizenship voter registration bill dubbed the SAVE Act on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday said he planned to tee up a stopgap spending bill for a vote next week in a last-minute bid to avert a shutdown.