Lawmakers are working to pass emergency legislation to cover a nearly $3 billion shortfall at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The House passed the bipartisan bill Wednesday and members are calling on the Senate to fast-track the measure. Benefits for veterans and survivors could be at risk if Congress doesn't act by Friday.
House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chair Mike Bost, R-Ill., told The Hill that leaders on his committee and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee are in agreement to move the measure through as quickly as possible.
Bost said, "We're gonna have enough votes to get it through both the House and the Senate, onto the president's desk, and nobody's gonna lose their pay."
Bost added that lawmakers are still targeting Friday as a deadline.
The bill is seeking some $2.9 billion in additional VA funding, $2.3 billion of which would go toward the Veterans Benefits Administration for compensation and pensions.
Before the vote Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said, "Peventing any potential lapse in our veterans' benefits remains a top priority for Congress."
He added, "This egregious miscalculation by the administration and Department of Veterans Affairs has not only raised serious questions but exposed a grave failure."
The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing Wednesday to grill VA officials on what caused the shortfall. The agency pointed to the 2022 toxic-exposure PACT act, which made more people eligible to enroll in VA healthcare and other benefits.
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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