The Department of Veterans Affairs reported in late April that the backlog of pending disability claims has climbed back above 300,000 cases, the highest it has been since 2022. Claims are considered “backlogged” when they have been waiting more than 125 days for a decision. The high-water mark during the post-PACT Act surge was 425,000 in 2023; by mid-2025 it had been pushed down to roughly 220,000. The trend has reversed.
Reporting from Military Times, Stars and Stripes, and the AP all tell roughly the same story. The PACT Act, signed in 2022, expanded eligibility for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins, and a wave of new claims has been working through the system ever since. VA staffing was increased in 2023 and 2024 to absorb that wave, but hiring freezes and attrition over the last twelve months have left the claims-processing workforce smaller than it was at peak. The American Legion and the VFW have both publicly raised the alarm. The official VA response has been to point to overall claims volume being higher than ever, which is true and not really the point.
Here is the thing. We told these men and women that if they got hurt serving this country, we would have their back. That is not a partisan statement. That is the deal. When a Marine who breathed in burn-pit smoke in Iraq has to wait fourteen months to find out if the cancer in his lungs counts, the deal is broken. It does not matter which administration’s name is on the letterhead. It matters that the line at the door is getting longer.
The fix is not complicated, and that is part of what makes the current numbers galling. The VA needs more claims processors, and Congress needs to fund them. The agency has asked for the staffing. The continuing resolution that has been keeping the government open does not include the requested increase. Both parties have spoken at length about supporting the troops. Neither has been in a particular hurry to pay for it.
If you want a clean test of whether your representatives in Washington actually mean what they say about veterans, the next VA staffing vote is it. The men and women in that backlog earned the answer. The country can afford to give it to them on time.