Republicans are questioning how vital the situation actually was in September when the Senate passed an approximately $3 billion additional emergency funding bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs when lawmakers were warned that benefits to veterans could be delayed, the Washington Examiner reported Monday.
The VA admitted to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs last week that it did not use the supplemental funding for fiscal 2024.
The admission from the VA upset the chair of the committee, Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., who sent a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough along with House Appropriations Committee's veterans panel Chair John Carter, a Texas Republican, expressing concerns and announcing they will be "launching a full investigation to get to the bottom of this."
The VA insisted that its appeal to Congress was meant as a warning for a worst-case scenario that wasn't realized in the end, with VA spokesman Terrence Hayes telling the Washington Examiner that "out of an abundance of caution last fiscal year, VA requested additional benefits funding — because if we were even $1 short on funding, critical benefits for 7 million veterans and survivors would have been delayed. Those veterans and survivors rely on those monthly payments, and any delay could have been devastating for them and their families — and that was not a risk that we were willing to take."
But Bost and other Republicans are not accepting the explanation and have accused the VA of misleading them.
Bost and Carter said in their letter to McDonough that "the response shows that, in fact, no benefits shortfall ever existed and much of the information your leadership team has provided about a purported health care shortfall was erroneous. This revelation severely undermines our confidence in the Biden-Harris administration's stewardship of the federal budget and your management of VA."
They accused Undersecretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs, Undersecretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, and their chief financial officers of having "repeatedly misinformed Congress and our nation's veterans, even risking inciting a panic among veterans about their benefits being delayed or cut."
The agency has pointed to the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act as the main reason behind the budget shortfall, citing increases in enrollment in VA healthcare, appointments, and applications benefits. The legislation, passed in 2022, expanded healthcare coverage for veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits that have harmed veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In addition, VA officials want Congress to pass another supplemental funding package for $12 billion for fiscal 2025, which lawmakers were expected to debate once they get back in session following the 2024 elections.
"VA is currently delivering more care and more benefits to more veterans than ever before in our nation's history, including delivering an all-time record $187 billion in earned benefits to veterans and their survivors last year alone," Hayes told the Washington Examiner.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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