Biden’s Budget Cuts VA Spending, Increases Funds for Wars in Ukraine and Israel

The Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington on July 6, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Biden administration’s proposed 2025 budget would cut the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) funding while pushing for increased spending for the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

The budget “prioritizes Veterans’ Mental Health Services and Suicide Prevention for Veterans and Military Servicemembers” by allocating $135 million to suicide prevention programs, according to a fact sheet.

The proposal would ultimately cut more than $5.6 billion from the VA’s budget, lowering the department’s discretionary allocation by about 4.2 percent.

The Department of Defense, meanwhile, would get an increase of more than 4 percent to combat threats in Gaza, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific. That would allow the Pentagon to continue record spending, despite having never passed an audit.

The budget also calls on Congress to pass the Senate-approved version of the president’s supplemental security spending request. That bill would allocate more than $90 billion in security-related spending for Israel, Ukraine, and the United States’ presence in the Pacific.

The supplemental would provide $3.4 billion to spend on the nation’s Submarine Industrial Base, $14.3 billion to support Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, and $61.4 billion to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

President Joe Biden previously described the mammoth spending package as “a smart investment” that will “pay dividends” to U.S. security interests.

That language has raised the specter of war profiteering. Furthermore, conservatives as well as progressives may deride the administration for aiding foreign militaries while cutting spending on U.S. veterans.

The department, which provides vital health and financial services to U.S. veterans, has been beset by oversight and managerial issues for most of its history. Issues include a $7.5 billion attempt to replace its aging financial system and questionable fiscal management practices regarding billions in funds intended for service members harmed by toxic chemicals.

The proposed budget would expand the toxic chemical fund and provide billions more to the department’s flagging effort to replace its information technology infrastructure while making a multi-percentage-point cut across the department.

VA leadership previously said such cuts would happen because of Republican-led spending reductions in last year’s compromise bill to extend the debt ceiling.