{"id":7497,"date":"2026-07-07T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7497"},"modified":"2026-07-07T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:30:00","slug":"va-benefits-claims-backlog-drops-below-70k-for-first-time-since-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7497","title":{"rendered":"VA benefits claims backlog drops below 70K for first time since 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2026-07-07T15:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced the backlog of Veterans waiting for VA disability compensation and pension benefit claims fell <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefits.va.gov\/reports\/mmwr_va_claims_backlog.asp\" rel=\"noopener\">below 70,000<\/a>\u00a0for the first time since February 2020, during the first Trump Administration.<\/p>\n<p>Hitting this milestone means the department has now cut the backlog of Veterans waiting for VA benefits by over 74% since Jan. 20, 2025, after it increased 24% under the Biden Administration.<\/p>\n<p>A VA claim for compensation or pension is considered backlogged once it has been pending in the claims inventory for more than 125 days. In 2013, 70% of claims were older than 125 days \u2014 the most ever \u2014 compared to just 11.6% today.<\/p>\n<p>VA has also reduced the average time it takes to process a claim to a record low. Today, claims take an average of 77.7 days to process \u2013 the fastest ever. Since the second Trump Administration took office, VA has decided more than one million claims in less than 30 days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is what putting Veterans first looks like,\u201d said <strong>VA Secretary Doug Collins<\/strong>. \u201cWe are incredibly proud of these historic numbers, which mean faster decisions, better service and more benefits for the men and women who have worn the uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This milestone is one of many <a href=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/veteransfirst\/\" rel=\"noopener\">landmark\u00a0VA achievements during the second Trump Administration<\/a>, including:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DeptVetAffairs\/status\/2072651740638323098\">Opening 38 new VA healthcare facilities<\/a>, expanding health care access for Veterans around the country.<\/li>\n<li>Processing more than 3 million disability compensation and pension claims in FY 2025, an all-time high that shattered the previous record set in FY 2024.<\/li>\n<li>Offering Veterans more than 3 million appointments outside of normal operating hours, which gives Veterans more timely and convenient options for care.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-houses-largest-number-of-homeless-veterans-in-seven-years\/\">Permanently housing 51,936 homeless Veterans<\/a>\u00a0across the country in FY 2025, the highest total in seven years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>VA encourages all Veterans to visit <a href=\"https:\/\/choose.va.gov\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Choose.VA.gov<\/a>\u00a0to learn more and apply for the care and benefits they have earned.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-benefits-claims-backlog-drops-below-70k-for-first-time-since-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VA&#8217;s backlog of Veterans waiting for VA disability compensation and pension benefit claims fell below 70,000\u00a0for the first time since February 2020, during the first Trump Administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-claims-appeals","category-u-s-veterans-disabled-veterans","category-trump"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VA benefits claims backlog drops below 70K for first time since 2020 - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VA&#039;s backlog of Veterans waiting for VA disability compensation and pension benefit claims fell below 70,000\u00a0for the first time since February 2020, during the first Trump Administration.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7497\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA benefits claims backlog drops below 70K for first time since 2020 - 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