Veterans deserve the truth, not spin with the VA budget

When an election cycle is ending at the same time end of year budget scrambles are starting, we should be extra skeptical of lawmakers and department officials posturing and asking for more money.

Members of Congress and Department of Veterans Affairs officials use lines like “veterans will suffer without this funding” or “those in opposition want to shut down VA” when it’s time to get voters on their side or ask for a budget increase. But look beyond the posturing and cherrypicked numbers and you’ll find contradictions between what is being asked for and what is actually needed to provide veterans with the quality care they deserve.

Last July, VA projected a $15 billion shortfall between this year and the end of next year. The VA’s budget has grown 50 percent since 2021. But naturally, VA bureaucrats claim they need a budget increase to cover the shortfall due to more hiring and heavier case workloads after the rollout of the PACT Act. But their own numbers and estimates contradict what they are asking Congress for and why.

Let’s’ compare the VA budget spin versus the facts.

VA is over-hiring beyond the staff it needs to deliver care. Secretary Denis McDonough has said the VA expects its health care workforce to grow to approximately 404,000 employees. In fact, the VA’s workforce dashboard already shows 417,296 employees onboard, over 34,000 more employees than the 383,186 employees needed in the FY 2025 budget.

Further, McDonough said the VA determined VHA will need to continue hiring so it can provide more veterans with more care. But again, based on the budget, VA is expecting to provide fewer outpatient visits and inpatient care at its VA facilities in FY 2025. Why would it then need to hire more to provide less for veterans?

Finally, VA says it’s providing "more care and more benefits to more veterans than ever before.” But veterans’ enrollment in a broken VA system does not translate to more care. In fact, the overall number of veterans using VA care since 2021 has dropped by more than 62,000. This includes estimates for 2025 with PACT Act expected to only increase costs by 0.4 percent.

Throwing more money at the problem isn’t a solution, but some real solutions do exist.

One solution for the VA’s budget shortfall is to lean more heavily into community care rather than demonize it or use it as a reason to increase its own budget. Community care allows veterans to use the private providers of their choice and is expected to increase in 2025 because veterans prefer it.

It is a great deal, as it provides about 40 percent of veterans care at only about 26 percent of the budget, saving VA money. VA’s own survey of veterans in 2022 found overall satisfaction with community care is at 83 percent, while overall satisfaction with VA hospitals is only 69 percent.

Another solution is to focus on direct budget savings and congressional oversight. VA could save almost $3.5 billion per year if it stopped hiring unneeded employees. It could save another $3.5 billion a year if it stopped providing VA care to almost 1 million non-veterans, including non-veteran employees. Implementing the VA “Red Team” Executive Roundtable Report’s recommendation to have VHA as a secondary payer for nonservice-connected care could save around $1.73 billion per year.

Congress needs to hold VA accountable when its bureaucrats blindside lawmakers and veterans with surprise budget shortfalls. Accountability measures for these budget failures should include an independent audit of VA finances, subpoenaing records, freezing senior executive bonuses and cuts to the VA secretary’s office.

The House Veterans Affairs Committee has asked VA hard questions and demanded VA leadership do its job. Others, like Senate VA Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.), don’t seem interested in what veterans want or in fixing the VA budget shortfall. Tester is instead focused on preserving the VA status quo and staying in the good graces of federal unions.

Tester slow-rolled addressing the shortfall in the first place and falsely accused those who support broader community care or modernizing outdated VA facilities of wanting to dismantle the VA. He and others want more VA power and funding, but that equals less choice and doesn’t prioritize veterans.

Veterans deserve to have certainty and truth about the VA budget, not spin. They deserve an honest, transparent accounting of what the VA truly needs to deliver benefits and great care to veterans, not a rushed process focused on the bureaucratic institution that could upend their lives.

It is long past time for Congress and VA leadership to step up and do what is best for veterans instead of doing what is best for the VA — honest accounting and a budget that prioritizes veterans, they deserve no less.

Darin Selnick is a senior advisor for Concerned Veterans for America and an Air Force veteran. He served as veterans affairs adviser on President Donald Trump’s Domestic Policy Council and as a senior advisor to the VA secretary.