Regional offices of the Department of Veterans Affairs began closing this morning and 7,000 people employed by the department are now furloughed.
via The Hill
“All public access to VBA regional offices and facilities will be suspended … due to a lack of funds,” Veterans Affairs Department spokeswoman Victoria Dillon said in a statement provided to The Hill.
Consequently, many veterans’ benefits will be delayed. VA’s ability to reduce the claims backlog, Dillon says, is hampered without claims processors who work overtime. Overtime was eliminated when the shutdown began.
Conservatives made a big stink earlier this year when it was revealed that there was a massive backlog at the VA, but this just goes to show you that the only reason they feigned concerned was to score political points.
Democrats were just as alarmed at the time, but we follow through and we don’t leave people out to dry.
Employees at the VA had been working 20 hours of overtime per month to clear the backlog prior to the GOP Government Shutdown of 2013.