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The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that the backlog of claims for VA disability compensation and pension benefits is “consistently” below 100,000 for the first time since 2020.
The last time the delay was this low was in May 2020, during President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.
“Under President Trump, VA is providing veterans, families, caregivers and survivors with all the benefits they have earned as quickly and conveniently as possible,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in a news release.
This milestone means the department has reduced the backlog of veterans awaiting VA benefits by 63% since Trump returned to office in January 2025, after it increased 24% under the Biden administration, according to the statement.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said the VA’s claims backlog is “consistently” below 100,000 for the first time since 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The department said reducing the backlog of claims has been an urgent priority for Collins.
The backlog of claims was well above 100,000 between 2021 and 2024 during the Biden administration and was 264,717 when Trump returned to office. During the first Trump administration, the department reached its lowest backlog of disability claims on Dec. 21, 2019, when it had 64,783 claims.
A VA compensation or pension claim is considered overdue once it has been pending in the claims inventory for more than 125 days, the department said.
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Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said the VA is providing veterans, families, caregivers and survivors “with all the benefits they have earned as quickly and conveniently as possible.” (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
In 2013, a record 70% of claims were more than 125 days old. Today, that figure has dropped to just 17%, according to the department.
“VA claims processing productivity is the highest it has ever been and we look forward to continuing to provide record levels of service to VA veterans and beneficiaries,” Collins said in the statement.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said it has reduced 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 accomplishments during Trump’s second term, which also include opening more than 30 new VA health care facilities, expanding veterans’ access to health care and providing permanent housing for 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 to the heroes who defended it,” Collins wrote in X.
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