The Department of Veterans Affairs says that the backlog of VA disability compensation and pension benefit claims is consistently below 100,000 for the first time since May 2020.
Hitting the milestone means the department has now cut the backlog of veterans waiting for VA benefits by 63 percent since Jan. 20, 2025, after it increased 24 percent under the Biden administration, it said in a release.
“Under President Trump, VA is providing veterans, families, caregivers and survivors all of the benefits they have earned as quickly and conveniently as possible,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins. “VA’s claims processing productivity is the highest it has ever been, and we look forward to continuing to provide record levels of service to veterans and VA beneficiaries.”
A VA compensation or pension claim is considered backlogged once it has been pending in the claims inventory for more than 125 days.
In 2013, 70 percent of claims were older than 125 days — the most ever — compared to just 17 percent currently.
According to the release, reducing the claims backlog is an urgent priority for Collins, as it was well above 100,000 from 2021 to 2024 and stood at 264,717 on Jan. 20, 2025.
During Trump’s first administration, VA reached the lowest disability claims backlog on Dec. 21, 2019, at 64,783 claims.
Veterans should visit here to learn more and apply for the VA care and benefits they have earned.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.