The VA defines compensation or pension benefits as backlogged once they have been pending for more than 125 days. The backlog of Veterans waiting for these benefits has dropped from 264,717 to 112,353—a 57 percent reduction—since Jan. 20, the department announced.
The backlog decreased after the VA said it processed “an all-time high” of 3,001,734 disability compensation and pension claims in fiscal year 2025, which began October 2024 and ended Sept. 30. That broke the VA’s previous record of 2.49 million set in the previous fiscal year.
Between Oct. 1, 2024, and Feb. 20, the VA had processed 1 million disability claims, which it said was faster than ever before in a given fiscal year.
July saw the highest number of claims processed in a single month in history, with just over 300,00 claims.
During fiscal year 2025, the VA reported distributing $195 billion in compensation and pension benefit payments to more than 6.9 million veterans and survivors.
“VA is constantly raising the bar for customer service and convenience,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement. “Our record claims processing productivity is proof these efforts are working. Veterans deserve fast and accurate claims decisions, and we look forward to continuing to deliver amazing results to those who have worn the uniform.”
The backlog reached its highest point in history in March 2013, with 611,000 Veterans waiting for benefits. By November of that year, the VA reported that it had made significant progress in reducing the backlog by 34 percent.
“Veterans shouldn’t have to wait for the benefits they’ve earned,” then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said in a statement at the time. “This has never been acceptable, but we are executing our plans and moving in the right direction to meet our 2015 goal of eliminating the backlog. We still have more work to do, but we are making clear progress and no one is more committed than our VBA employees, more than half of whom are Veterans themselves.”
The VA reached its lowest backlog of 64,738 in December 2019.