FY 2026 Budget Submission - Budget in Brief - Overview

Oct 12, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs FY 2026 Budget Submission presents the Administration’s funding plan for Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors. The budget highlights increased support for healthcare services, priority care for vulnerable Veterans, and acceleration of Electronic Health Record Modernization for interoperability with the Department of Defense. It outlines total FY 2026 funding of $441.2 billion, key mandatory and discretionary components, and operational capacity for enrolled medical services and benefits delivery.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages51

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

VA Funding

Discretionary Funding

Medical Benefit

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FY 2026 BUDGET SUBMISSION Budget in Brief May 2025 Overview President Trump is committed to balancing the Budget, while providing necessary funding for critical non-defense discretionary priorities like caring for the Nation’s Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. The 2026 President’s Budget request and 2027 Advance Appropriations (AA) request for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will provide the funding to deliver the world-class care and benefits Veterans have earned. The Budget provides increased funding for healthcare services tailored to Veterans’ needs both at VA medical centers and in the community. It prioritizes care for our most vulnerable Veterans, including those experiencing homelessness or at-risk of suicide. It accelerates VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) effort, moving the Department from a decades-old legacy system to a modern system that is interoperable with the Department of Defense (DoD) and other Federal and community care partners. And finally, the Budget eliminates nonessential programming and bureaucratic overhead that does not directly serve the Veteran. In short, President Trump’s 2026 Budget request will allow VA to continue making historic reforms to refocus the Department on its core Veterans First mission: providing the best possible care and services to Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors. The total 2026 request for VA is $441.2 billion including all funds, both discretionary and mandatory, a $40.3 billion (+10%) increase above the 2025 enacted level (including collectionsand the Recurring Expenses Transformational Fund) . This includes a discretionary budget request of $134.6 billion, a $5.3 billion (+4%) increase above 2025 (excluding collections) . Combined with $52.7 billion from the mandatory Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund (TEF), the total request is $187.2 billion for operational needs. Additionally, the discretionary Recurring Expenses Transformational Fund (RETF, or Transformational Fund, TF)1 will provide $900 million for major construction projects. The 2026 mandatory benefits funding request is $248.1 billion, an increase of $11.7 billion (+5 .0%) above 2025. In addition, there is $400 million for Major Medical Facility leases made available by the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 (P.L. 117-168) . VA anticipates supporting 455,874 Full-Time Equivalent Employees (FTE) in 2026 using all funding sources. The 2027 Medical Care Advance Appropriation (AA) request includes a discretionary funding request of $122.3 billion. The 2027 mandatory AA request is $262.1 billion for Veterans benefits programs (Compensation and Pensions, Readjustment Benefits, and Veterans Insurance and Indemnities) and $51.7 billion for the TEF. 1 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113) created the RETF, allowing VA to transfer unobligated balances of expiring non-emergency discretionary funds in any account to the RETF as directed in the Act. The 2026 request will provide the resources necessary to meet VA’s commitment to deliver timely access to world-class health care and earned benefits to Veterans. The request fully funds operation of the largest integrated health care system in the United States, with over 9.2 million Veterans expected to be enrolled for medical services in 2026. In 2026, it will also provide disability compensation benefits to over 7 million Veterans and their survivors and administers pension benefits for over 200,000 Veterans and their survivors. The 2026 request will also support: • 7.5 million unique patients treated by VA estimated for 2026. • 162.6 million outpatient visits estimated for 2026. • $3.0 billion for construction (all funds, base discretionary and RETF) . • Education assistance programs serving over 1.1 million trainees. • Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) bene

FAQs

What are the main priorities in the FY 2026 VA Budget Submission?

The budget prioritizes increased healthcare funding tailored to Veterans’ needs, care for the most vulnerable Veterans, and advancing Electronic Health Record Modernization while reducing nonessential overhead that does not directly serve Veterans.

What is the total FY 2026 funding request for the VA?

The total FY 2026 request is $441.2 billion across all funds, including both discretionary and mandatory funding.

How will the FY 2026 budget support VA operations and services?

The submission states VA will support 455,874 full-time equivalent employees and fully funds operations of an integrated health care system, with estimates of millions of patients and outpatient visits, plus disability compensation, pension, and other benefits programs.

Oct 12, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel