A $3 billion hole in veterans benefits funding is closer to being filled, but the Friday deadline to fix the issue without potentially disrupting payments to veterans is fast approaching, with lingering questions about whether the Senate can act quickly enough.
The House on Tuesday easily approved a bill to provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with $3 billion the agency says it needs in order to ensure benefits checks due Oct. 1 can go out on time. But the Senate still needs to approve the bill, and doing so before Friday will require the consent of every senator — and at least one senator is raising the possibility of objecting.
Veterans have been urging Congress to move quickly to remove any doubt that they will get their benefits on time.
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“Every day that we get closer to Sept. 20 is another 24 hours of uncertainty for thousands of veterans whose financial lives depend on this, and every member of Congress has a moral obligation to protect these crucial benefits that our nation’s veterans have earned through their service to our great nation,” Julia Mathis, national legislative director at the American Legion, said at a news conference last week.