VA Disability Backlog Falls to Under 100,000 in One Year Under President Trump

Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins reported Tuesday that the disability claims backlog at the VA has been “drastically lowered” under President Trump, attributing the progress to aggressive reforms and a renewed focus on veterans.

Collins stated the VA has reduced the backlog from more than 264,000 cases to fewer than 100,000 in just one year. He noted the numbers have improved further, adding that “just the other day I got a text from our VBA director … saying that it’s at 98,000.” Collins said the agency is heading toward 60,000 cases.

The secretary also highlighted sharp declines in average processing times, which have dropped from about 135 days to approximately 80 days. “We’ve taken the overall number of cases from well over a million when I got there and broke that down to under 600,000,” Collins said. He added the agency could achieve disability claims processed, adjudicated, and responded to within 35 days.

Collins credited President Trump’s leadership and commitment to veterans for driving the reforms. “President Trump’s made it very clear he wants to take care of veterans,” he said. “I’m just not a ‘get to it’ kind of guy, because President Trump’s not. And he said, ‘Fix it.'”

The VA secretary emphasized that the sweeping reorganization is focused on service, not cuts. “This reorganization is not about cutting jobs. It’s not about taking out positions,” Collins stated. “It’s about actually taking a system that for 30 years everybody just said, ‘We’ll get to it,’ and fixing what’s broken.”

Collins concluded the changes ensure veterans are prioritized at the VA: “One year ago today, the VA started changing. It changed because I said veterans are first at the VA, not the other way around. And I think that made all the difference.”