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Stars and Stripes | VA is approaching a historically high $250.9 billion budget
The Department of Veterans Affairs is one step closer to securing its largest budget in history at more than $250 billion, continuing a trend of the government’s second-largest agency expanding rapidly in size to support a growing and aging veterans population … House Appropriations subcommittee members on Monday forwarded a bill funding the VA at unprecedented levels to its full committee to send to the House floor for a vote. The bill gives more money to the VA than the $243.3 billion requested by President Donald Trump in the proposed 2021 budget from the White House.
“Over the last decade, the VA’s budget has more than doubled – far outpacing the growth in patients and beneficiaries,” said Darin Selnick, a senior adviser for Concerned Veterans of America, a conservative veterans advocacy group. “Additionally, the VA has added nearly 50,000 employees in the past five years — making it larger than the active-duty United States Navy in terms of personnel.”
Selnick said money is “merely a talking point” for lawmakers and the VA needs to become more efficient, suggesting an audit “would be a good place to start.” |
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