The United States has had a centralized agency to support veterans since the creation of the Veterans Administration in 1930. It was elevated to cabinet-level status in 1989 and renamed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Today, it employs hundreds of thousands of people who provide healthcare, benefits, and cemetery services to more than 16 million veterans.
The VA has announced plans to reduce staffing levels to those of 2019. According to the Office of Personnel Management, the VA employed 482,831 people as of September 2024. It intends to cut this number to around 398,000.
Why did VA staff grow so quickly? Many recent hirings were due to expanded medical services under the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, which passed in 2022. This act made it easier for veterans exposed to toxic substances, such as burn pits or Agent Orange, to get medical and mental health care. The VA hired thousands in response.
Some key financial insights into the VA:
In FY 2024, the Department of Veterans Affairs spent $325 billion — that’s 4.8% of the entire $6.8 trillion federal budget. It was the fifth-largest federal agency by spending.
The VA's spending has risen by 294.8% since federal fiscal year 1980. Compare that to federal spending overall, which grew by 193%. This means the VA’s slice of the federal budget pie has expanded by 1.2 percentage points since 1980.
Half of the VA’s 2022 budget funded veterans' compensation and pensions.
However, VA spending might be paused for now. Last month, the General Services Administration recommended that agencies that use the government’s SmartPay credit card program set a $1 limit for all cardholders pending a review. Last year, the VA spent more on these credit cards than any other federal agency.
And for a deeper look, because we know you like charts, here’s a how VA spending on government credit cards has risen over the past decade plus.
