Lawmakers were largely split on the Department of Veterans Affairs proposed $243 billion 2021 budget, and that split reflected a rift between Republicans and Democrats on the panel during what promises to be a heated election year.
At a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing Thursday, the majority, led by Chairman Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., called the president’s proposed budget “deeply concerning” and a “cruel document” that, outside VA’s budget, could cut federal health assistance, food stamps, housing and other programs. Democrats also repeatedly criticized VA Secretary Robert Wilkie and other VA leaders about lack of progress.
The minority, led by Ranking Member Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., produced charts and graphs to praise “promises made, promises kept” and “accomplishments for veterans” under President Donald Trump’s administration and lauded continued VA budget increases as efforts to better serve veterans.
Trump administration officials are asking for a 10 percent increase in VA funding, one of the only federal agencies to get a significant funding boost under the president’s plan.
“This increase comes at the expense of significant cuts to critical (non-VA) programs that veterans, especially those in crisis, depend on,” Takano said.
Lawmakers notably did not question Wilkie and other top VA leaders about the sudden firing of the agency’s No. 2 leader, Deputy Secretary James Byrne, or recent calls for investigation of allegations Wilkie sought damaging information about a veteran who said she was sexually assaulted at the Washington, D.C. VA.
Lawmakers remained focused on VA’s 2021 budget proposal and Wilkie focused on depicting VA as a drastically different agency than when he officially took the reins in 2018.
“VA looks nothing like it did a few years ago,” he said. “Years ago there were incredible stories of failures and excuses. And today we are not only leading the country in innovation systems, but above all, we have satisfied veterans.”
VA is the largest medical care provider in the United States, with 9.3 million enrolled veterans.
The 2021 fiscal year budget request is the largest in VA history, Wilkie said, at $243 billion.
VA also provides hundreds of thousands of home loans, education benefits to more than 900,000 and oversees more than 4 million gravesites at 156 National Cemeteries.
“We are on the other end of the national security continuum as we take care of those who have already borne the battle and I continue to believe this is one of the noblest missions in government,” Wilkie said.
MISSION
Wilkie touted “solid progress” and “a string of wins” at VA in the last 18 months, including what he characterized as a “near-flawless” launch of the MISSION Act.
He said VA has delivered more care, hired more medical staff and increased services through the legislation which included expanded options for veterans to receive care at VA's network of private providers.
His comments follow Congressional hearings where other VA leaders told lawmakers that 8 months in, they did not know how many appointments have been completed or how much the effort cost.
Electronic health records, IT
Wilkie also said that VA was “on the verge” of delivering its new electronic health record (EHR) system. The system was expected to launch in March, but the department announced this month that it would delay that launch and VA leaders said Thursday that it was aiming for July 2020.
VA last year delayed the expansion of caregiver benefits again. Part of that delay was because VA’s IT system for the program needed significant updates before it could launch, VA leaders said, adding that the work is ongoing.
“I will admit that VA has been underfunded on IT efforts,” Wilkie said.
Agent Orange
Wilkie and minority members praised VA’s efforts to provide benefits to Blue Water Navy veterans exposed to Agent Orange. But some lawmakers criticized VA’s failure so far to approve disability benefits coverage for four more diseases that scientists have linked to the toxin.
“This is about making choices,” Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Penn., said. “The clock is ticking.”
Wilkie told the committee his father was exposed to Agent Orange during his service in Vietnam, and said he was committed to caring for veterans like him, “because it is personal."
“The Vietnam soldier is of particular meaning to me -- that is the world I was born into,” he said.
Wait times and staff
About 65 percent of VA medical centers now have wait times of 20 days or fewer, Wilkie said. Wait times for private providers since the MISSION Act launch are still unclear, though VA watchdogs warned they could worsen, and in some areas prior to launch, wait times were already nearly two months.
In the last year, WIlkie said VA had increased the number of doctors by 2 percent, nurse practitioners by 7 percent and physicians assistants by 3 percent. Some VA medical centers still struggle to recruit and retain staff, including mental health professionals and women’s care providers.
While Wilkie said VA is adding staff in key areas, the department is also axing thousands.
Under new accountability standards, he told lawmakers more than 8,000 employees had been fired.
Claims backlog
VA leaders told Congress that its backlog of disability claims peaked in 2013 at 611,000 and is now about 70,000.
The department processes about 12 percent more claims each year than it did in 2017, officials said.
Homelessness
Wilkie said VA has found homes for about 125,000 veterans in the last two years.
"The way this will continue to work is to enhance our partnerships with (nonprofits)," he said. "So they can help us go where we don't to find those veterans."
Suicide prevention
For suicide prevention, which Wilkie has said repeatedly is his No. 1 priority, the VA budget request includes a $76 million increase over 2020, which Wilkie said would fund more than 19.7 million mental health outpatient visits, up nearly 272,000 over 2020’s estimate.
Lawmakers have continually disagreed on how that money should be spent, especially as it continues to increase while the number of veterans who die by suicide daily -- about 20 -- remains the same or worsens.
Women veterans
Wilkie said women veterans are increasingly enrolling in VA health care, “placing new demands on VA’s health care system.”
Women are the fastest-growing demographic among veterans and Wilkie said to address that growth, the budget proposal includes $626 million for gender-specific women veterans’ health care, a $53 million increase over 2020.
Sexual harassment and assault
Wilkie’s testimony included information about how VA serves and plans to improve care for veterans who are survivors of military sexual trauma. But his testimony did not mention sexual harassment or assault that occurs at VA facilities.
When asked about VA’s budget plans to address the issue, Wilkie and other VA leaders said the budget includes $500,000 for the VA “Stand Up to Stop Harassment” program, including employee and volunteer training.
“It’s one thing to put up a poster, but we need those people in that facility to be trained,” Wilkie said, adding that VHA has a senior official “focused on nothing but that. It’s part of this great cultural change that the active component and VA have to go through.”
Takano announced he planned to hold a hearing dedicates to addressing sexual assault and harassment at VA facilities. Wilkie told lawmakers he would testify at that hearing.
When asked if he hopes that hearing will help clear the air on the allegations about him, and the alleged sexual assault case, Wilkie said “I hope so.”
If approved as planned by the president, the $243 billion 2021 VA budget would make the department the second-largest federal agency, second only to the Defense Department. $243B is nearly double the budget VA had a decade ago and more than five times its 2001 budget.
Thursday’s hearing was only the beginning of a lengthy VA budget planning and approval process. Lawmakers likely won’t pass a complete 2021 budget until after the November election.
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