VA budget tops $488B as workforce stays above DOGE target

The Department of Veterans Affairs is requesting $488.2 billion for fiscal year 2027, a 7.7% increase over current spending levels, as VA Secretary Doug Collins defended a budget that expands private-sector care while trimming staffing for oversight and appeals operations.

Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, chaired by Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., Collins said the proposal prioritizes performance over bureaucracy.

“For too long, this Department measured success by how much money it spent and how many people it employed – not by how well it served veterans,” he told lawmakers.

In written testimony, Collins added that the VA “is not a federal jobs program, but in the past, it acted like one.”

Collins pointed to a 70% reduction in the disability claims backlog, a record 51,936 homeless veterans permanently housed in fiscal year 2025, and the rollout of a long-delayed electronic health records system i...