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https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2025/05/02/white-house-budget-plan- gives-4-boost-for-va-amid-other-agency-cuts/

The Department of Veterans Affairs budget would see a 4% boost in
programmatic funding under President Donald Trump’s initial budget plan
for fiscal 2026, even as most other non-defense federal agencies face
steep fiscal cuts.

The $1.7 trillion “skinny budget” plan for next fiscal year, released by
the White House on Friday, provides only broad spending outlines for
federal departments and is expected to be followed by more detailed
guidance in coming weeks.

White House officials said the fiscal plan “holds the line on total
spending while providing unprecedented increases for defense and border security” while also reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy.

While major discretionary funding cuts are planned for agencies like the Department of Education (down 15%) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (down 44%), the White House plan calls for a $5.4 billion
boost in VA program spending.

According to documents released by the Office of Budget and Management,
about $2 billion of that increase would go toward accelerating the
department’s electronic health records overhaul, a project that has been stalled for three years.

VA Secretary Doug Collins earlier this year announced plans to accelerate
the rollout of the records system to 13 news sites in 2026, despite
numerous cost overruns and system glitches.

Another $3.3 billion would be set aside for medical care improvements,
although the specifics of those efforts have yet to be released.

Budget officials said the money would go toward ensuring that “the nation provides the world-class healthcare to America’s veterans that they
deserve” and that “veterans who qualify for access to care with local
community providers would be empowered to make the choice to see them.”

Expanding community care options — opportunities for veterans to seek private-sector care at taxpayers expense — was a major campaign promise
for Trump. Collins has reiterated that focus in recent public interviews.

Planning documents also call for a $1.1 billion increase for programs
aimed at ending veterans’ homelessness. Officials said the money would be earmarked for “rental assistance and augmenting VA’s existing case
management.”

The spending plan estimates almost $500 million in savings from cuts to
legacy information technology systems within the department, and another
$37 million from diversity program cuts and planned staff reductions.

Officials also plan to shift about $50 billion in previously mandatory
funding — set aside originally to pay for expenses related to toxic
exposure injuries — into the discretionary budget next year.

Republican lawmakers have argued the move will make the funding more
flexible and improve oversight into its use. Democratic lawmakers have countered that the move endangers long-term assurances that money will be available to care for those wounds of war.

The White House did not release its estimate for mandatory VA spending in fiscal 2026, which includes money for disability benefits, education
payouts and certain medical expenses.

Veterans Affairs planners have seen regular budget increases annually for
more than 20 years, even amid periodic congressional and White House
efforts to reduce federal spending.

In fiscal 2001, the VA budget — both mandatory and discretionary — totaled
just $45 billion. In 2011, it was about $125 billion. For the current
fiscal year, the total tops $350 billion.


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November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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