The Department of Veterans Affairs said the backlog of VA claims is "consistently" under 100,000 for the first time since 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The department said that reducing the claims backlog has been an urgent priority for Collins.
The claims backlog was well above 100,000 from 2021 to 2024 during the Biden administration and was at 264,717 when Trump returned to office. During Trump's first administration, the department reached the lowest disability claims backlog on Dec. 21, 2019, when it was at 64,783 claims.
A VA claim for compensation or pension is considered backlogged once it has been pending in the claims inventory for more than 125 days, the department said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it has now slashed the backlog of veterans waiting for VA benefits by 63% since President Donald Trump returned to office in January of last year. (ALASTAIR PIKE/AFP via Getty Images)
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The department said this is one of several nationwide achievements during Trump’s second term, which also include opening more than 30 new VA health care facilities, expanding veterans’ access to health care, and permanently housing more than 50,000 homeless veterans in fiscal year 2025 — the highest total in seven years.
"We're not just talking about the American Dream; we're making it more accessible for the heroes who defended it," Collins wrote on X.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-va-benefits-claims-backlog-below-100k-first-time-6-years-record-levels-service