The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has received a 4 percent funding increase in the White House’s budget request for fiscal year 2014, pending congressional approval.
The additional $2.5 billion would go to the agencyâs discretionary budget for addressing the VA’s growing disability claims backlog, totaling close to 600,000 cases, Stars and Stripes reported Friday.
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki told reporters last week that his office is aiming to eliminate the backlog by 2015 and that the agency takes an average of nine months to close a claim, according to the report.
âAt the end of the day, itâs not the inputs or investments but the outputsâquestions being answered, tax credits being utilized, jobs being createdâthatâs going to prove to people whether the system is working,â said Denis McDonough, White House chief of staff, according to Leo Shane III‘s story.