Senator Sullivan, colleagues request Oversight Hearing on $15 Billion VA budget shortfall

Senator Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (SVAC), and several of SVAC colleagues signed onto a letter, led by Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, to SVAC Chairman Senator Jon Tester from Montana demanding an immediate hearing concerning the startling $15 billion shortfall that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently announced.

The budget shortfall, the largest experienced by the VA, includes $2.88 billion relating to compensation, pension, and readjustment benefit payments at the Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA), and another $11.97 billion in medical care accounts at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

The budget shortfall is a departure from the FY 2025 budget request the Biden-Harris administration presented to Congress just four months ago. The projected VHA deficit alone is greater than the entire annual budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“The sudden nature of the issue, and the sheer financial volume of the request, are both cause for concern and call into question the information previously reported by VA,” the senators wrote. “As members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, we have an obligation to conduct oversight of the Department. If the problem is not identified and addressed, it is perpetuated. VA must be held to the highest standard in delivering quality, transparent, and efficient care, benefits, and services to our veterans, while acting as exemplary stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

The letter calls for an immediate hearing with the VA to evaluate the budget lapse and the extent to which mismanagement contributed to it. Additionally, it cites the committee’s responsibility to understand how hiring needs and shifting strategies have contributed to this predicament.

“Our Committee is directly responsible for conducting rigorous oversight and this budget shortfall proves that VA is in desperate need of scrutiny and accountability,” the senators continued. “Our obligation is not absolved because the Senate is departing for a five-week recess. […] The VA Secretary needs to immediately testify in-person before the Committee to answer the nearly $15 billion question before a supplemental is considered. The American people, and especially our veterans, deserve a government operating with full transparency and integrity. They expect results, not a blank check to further bureaucratic mismanagement.”

The senators wrote that answers and accountability should not wait until the Senate returns on September 9, just days before the VA says that benefits payments will be disrupted, saying that veterans cannot wait.

“As such, we urge you to immediately schedule a hearing so we can conduct proper oversight and get to the bottom of this concerning report. Once we get these critical answers, then we can quickly take appropriate action to ensure payments continue to our veterans and ensure this unacceptable financial mismanagement does not jeopardize veterans again.”