Veterans: annual VA funding
What they say
In the September 10 debate, Ciscomani said VA funding had increased every year he had been in office and that only Homeland Security, Veterans and Defense had that annual-increase record.
What the record shows
VA’s historical table reports Total VA funding of $308.8 billion in FY2023, $335.2 billion in FY2024, $401.3 billion in FY2025 and $453.3 billion in FY2026. The Clerk records his Yea on the FY2024 concurrence, FY2025 full-year funding and FY2026 package votes (2024 roll 64; 2025 rolls 70 and 285). These are later packages; FY2023 supplies the baseline. The same VA table’s discretionary row is $135.0 billion, $135.0 billion, $129.2 billion and $133.4 billion.
Why there is no assessment here
The aggregate FY2023–FY2026 trend and later package votes are documented. The only-three-areas comparison remains unverified because its funding measure and complete cross-government comparison are undefined.
Limit: The rise is in aggregate nominal funding, not every account or the discretionary row alone. The table combines mandatory and discretionary funding with medical collections and the transformational fund; it excludes specified emergency supplements and rounds amounts. FY2027 is a request and is excluded. The checked votes do not imply he enacted the pre-service FY2023 baseline or solely caused increases. No consistent all-area denominator was established for the only-three-areas assertion, and these totals do not establish services delivered or inflation-adjusted gains.