Biden-Harris admin focused on diversity at the VA as veterans faced massive claims backlog

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) expanded its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts while hundreds of thousands of veterans were stuck on a waitlist for benefits under the Biden-Harris administration.

The VA took at least a dozen actions aimed at bolstering its DEI initiatives during the Biden-Harris administration, according to a list of federal DEI programs compiled by the right-of-center nonprofit Do No Harm. While the VA was focused on pursuing diversity, the number of homeless veterans increased and the amount of claims in the VA’s backlog grew to roughly 378,000.

In June 2023, the VA adopted an equity action plan and, as part of that plan, established its Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Council to comply with President Joe Biden’s executive order mandating that all federal agencies work toward achieving racial equity, according to federal documents. The council exists to assess the VA’s programs to ensure they are being carried out with racial equity in mind. As the VA was expending resources to measure racial equity, the number of veterans waiting for it to review their claims remained persistently high. At the end of 2023, the VA had 378,000 claims from veterans that had been pending for at least 125 days. This represents an increase from the 210,854 backlogged claims the agency had as of September 2021.

The VA expected the number of these backlogged claims to increase over the course of 2024, though the agency has yet to publish year-end data.

While struggling to provide services to veterans, the VA moved to contract with more diverse suppliers, providing “underserved” businesses with advanced information to assist them in the contract bidding process and making procurement decisions that privilege minority-owned businesses, according to Do No Harm’s list of federal DEI policies. The agency also engaged in marketing campaigns aimed at reaching out to “LGBTQ+” and female-owned businesses as well as a campaign targeted at getting more women to self-identify as veterans.

The number of homeless veterans increased from 33,129 in 2022 to 35,574 in 2023, according to data maintained by the VA. The uptick was particularly pronounced among homeless veterans who were “unsheltered,” meaning that they were living on the street as opposed to in a homeless shelter.

As veterans slept on streets, the VA promised to address “health equity” by gathering more information on the race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation of veterans, according to Do No Harm. The agency spent $718,000 to provide 20 medical centers with resources to “implement” or “advance” equity.

Veterans of the armed forces favor former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris by a margin of 61% to 37%, according to data published by the Pew Research Center in September. Trump sought to increase the VA’s budget and expanded the ability of veterans to seek medical care outside of the agency’s hospital system.

President Joe Biden, by comparison, signed the PACT Act, which greatly expanded benefits available to veterans. Biden’s VA, however, expanded diversity trainings and pushed for abortions in VA hospitals.

The VA did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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