The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spends the fifth most of all federal agencies, accounting for 5% of federal spending. VA expenditures have almost tripled in the last 20 years, from $70 billion in fiscal year 2000 to $200 billion in fiscal year 2019, adjusted for inflation. This makes the VA the second fastest federal agency for expenditure growth over that time.
The veteran population in the US is shrinking and getting older, increasing the costs for care. The number of veterans decreased by one-third from 26 million to 17 million from 2000 to 2019, according to the US Census Bureau. Veterans went from 9% of the population in 2000 to 5% in 2019.
