Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins speaks during an event marking 250 years of the American military at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on July 1, 2026. (Ken Cedeno/AFP via Getty Images)

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it cut the backlog of veterans waiting for compensation and pension benefits by 74% since President Donald Trump started his second term.

Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the backlog of veterans on a waiting list for benefits spiked by 24%. However, the backlog dropped to fewer than 70,000 veterans for the first time since February 2020, during Trump’s first term. The VA defines a backlog as a claim that has been pending for more than 125 days.

“This is what putting Veterans first looks like,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins in a statement. “We 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.”

The claims backlog reached a record high of 70% during the administration of President Barack Obama, in 2013, with more than 610,000 veterans having backlogged claims. Today, 11.6% of veterans’ benefit claims are older than 125 days, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The number of veterans with delayed claims fell precipitously after 2013 and remained at that level before it spiked again during the pandemic.

In 2014, a whistleblower reported that a VA hospital in Phoenix and other VA facilities manipulated appointment data to conceal how long veterans were waiting for treatment. The waiting list scandal ultimately led to the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

In 2018, Trump signed the VA MISSION Act to reform veterans’ health care and increase access to community providers.

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Currently, claims take an average of 77.7 days to process, which the department says is the fastest time ever. The VA adds that, under the second Trump administration, it has decided more than 1 million claims in fewer than 30 days.

The VA asserts that during the second Trump administration it has opened 38 new health care facilities, processed more than 3 million disability compensation and pension claims in fiscal year 2025, offered veterans more than 3 million appointments outside of normal operating hours, and provided housing for 51,936 homeless veterans across the country in fiscal year 2025, which the department said is the highest total in seven years.