The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plans to hire an additional 2,000 employees in fiscal year 2027 to help process an expected surge in benefits claims during the next several years.
“VA is putting veterans first by making major improvements in claims processing volume, speed and accuracy,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a Wednesday statement. “These new hires will help continue this landmark progress.”
The press release does not indicate if the new hires are meant to replace any of the 30,000 employees who took voluntary leave in 2025.
Currently, more than 13,000 VA employees are dedicated to processing claims, according to the press release. The department processed over three million compensation and pension claims in fiscal year 2026, up 80% from four years prior. It granted 60.1% of the claims, paying out over $207 billion in total.
Since the second Trump administration took office, the backlog of veterans waiting for benefits has dropped by more than 70% due to record progress on claims processing despite the jump in submissions, according to the VA.
Processing times for disability claims were slashed nearly in half from January of fiscal year 2025, according to VA officials, dropping from an average processing time of 141 days to 76 days by September of 2026.
Yet some of the department’s other decisions during the second Trump administration have garnered controversy, including its decision to not renew its collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees.
Though the action, which impacts approximately 320,000 currently unionized employees, is still tied up in court, by mid-October the VA declared that the contract had expired.
AFGE has vowed to “take every action to defend our contract” according to a press release. VA officials argue that the union agreements are contrary to employees’ interests and that the money can be better used to help veterans in other ways.
