The Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday announced an increase in the number of its employees who are furloughed during the government shutdown.
Nearly 37,000 VA employees are now “furloughed or continue working without pay”, the VA said in a news release. That represents almost 8% of the VA’s total workforce of about 470,000 employees.
Last week, the Department said more than 35,000 of its employees were furloughed or forced to work without pay.
Asked by CNN the reason for the increase, VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said that advance funding for the VA’s general administration budget expired this week, so nearly 2,000 more employees were added to the ranks of those furloughed or not being paid.
The VA also outlined how the shutdown is impacting veterans, including more than 900,000 veterans who are unable to get assistance from the GI Bill Hotline, which has been shut down.
The agency said more than 100,000 enrolled veterans cannot get services in its Veteran Readiness and Employment program, which helps veterans with service-connected disabilities obtain employment, because employees running that program have been furloughed.
Fifty-six regional VA benefits offices are closed, the agency says, and more than 16,000 service members who are preparing to leave the military cannot receive transition briefings, because a contract to provide those briefings is not operational during the shutdown.
The VA said 157 VA cemeteries across the country cannot do ground maintenance or place permanent headstones. Burials will continue at those cemeteries during the shutdown, the VA said.
Because it received some advance appropriations from Congress, some of its critical services remain operational, the VA said.
All VA medical centers and outpatient clinics remain open. Doctors and nurses are still working. Suicide prevention services are still available.
Education, disability and pension payments are continuing, but VA Secretary Doug Collins said some of those benefits are being administered by employees who are not being paid.
