Senate passes $3 billion VA spending patch, addressing urgent budget shortfall

The Senate passed an emergency bill Thursday to address a nearly $3 billion shortfall that the Department of Veterans Affairs is facing, sending it to President Joe Biden ’s desk.

The bill, passed by voice vote, would allocate about $2.9 billion in additional funding for the VA. About $2.3 billion would go directly to the Veterans Benefits Administration for compensation and pensions, and the rest would go toward readjustment benefits.

The legislation comes after the VA warned lawmakers in July that veterans’ compensation and pension benefit payments, as well as their readjustment benefits, could be delayed next month if Congress does not provide additional funding by the end of the week.

In rare and swift bipartisanship, both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the spending bill by unanimous consent that avoided taking a recorded vote in each chamber.

The House passed the bill , spearheaded by Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), earlier this week through a procedural vote that did not require the full House to be present. The bill includes a mandate that the VA issue a report on the funding shortage to Congress and include future accountability guidelines to make sure resources are managed properly. The VA secretary would also need to report to lawmakers on any future changes to the budget estimates.

The agency has cited the PACT Act , which expanded benefits for many veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxic materials during military service, and that a surge in demand had been underestimated. Republicans are blaming the funding gap on budget mismanagement by the Biden administration.

“The VA shortfall was very foreseeable,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Thursday on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. “The VA has been overwhelmed receiving more than 2.4 million claims in 2023, the most ever.”

Paul filed an amendment to offset the funding by rescinding the same amount of Inflation Reduction Act funding for the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office, but it did not pass.

Senators on Wednesday grilled VA leaders on why they were given just six weeks’ notice of the funding gap that could prevent veterans from receiving their benefits.

“This is unacceptable that veterans’ benefits are at risk and that the VA did not properly plan for this influx of claims,” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) said during the hearing.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough also told lawmakers in July that the department anticipated an additional $12 billion spending gap in 2025. That extra funding could become a sticking point as Republican appropriators and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) work to find a path forward on a continuing resolution before funding expires at midnight on Oct. 1.

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The Republican-led House rejected Johnson's proposal to extend current funding levels into the next presidential administration on Wednesday. The proposal included a Republican proof-of-citizenship voter registration bill dubbed the SAVE Act. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Thursday that he planned to tee up a stopgap spending bill for a vote next week in a last-minute bid to avert a shutdown.