{"id":29553,"date":"2019-11-07T20:01:41","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T20:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/07\/even-bigger-budgets-for-va-secretary-offers-his-thoughts-on-department-progress-challenges\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:14:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:14:32","slug":"even-bigger-budgets-for-va-secretary-offers-his-thoughts-on-department-progress-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2019\/11\/07\/even-bigger-budgets-for-va-secretary-offers-his-thoughts-on-department-progress-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Even bigger budgets for VA? Secretary offers his thoughts on department progress, challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/09\/26\/wilkie-touts-a-calmer-reformed-va-in-his-first-congressional-test\/\" target=_blank>Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilki<\/a>e has a bold prediction for the 2020 election: His department\u2019s programs are going to come out a winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t see how, no matter what is in store electorally, how anyone goes back on selling VA short in terms of the budget,\u201d Wilkie said in a sit-down with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/military-honor\/salute-veterans\/\" target=_blank>Military Times<\/a> on Thursday. \u201cWe have massive (reform) programs that were undertaking, like the electronic health record. Those are expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSupply chain reform is expensive. Meeting the 400,000 personnel level that has been set by the Congress is expensive. Keeping up with new technologies is expensive \u2026 So I expect the budget to go even higher. And I haven\u2019t heard anybody get up and say publicly \u2018enough is enough\u2019 with the VA budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie, who took over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/09\/21\/trump-oks-the-largest-va-budget-ever\/\" target=_blank>$200-billion-plus department<\/a> 16 months ago amid substantial leadership turmoil within VA, said he believes the department is stronger than it has been in decades, thanks to legislation passed by lawmakers in recent months and institutional reforms from the administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/07\/departing-vets-committee-chairman-hopes-partisan-divisions-wont-overwhelm-va-policy-work\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19045701131406.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Departing vets committee chairman hopes partisan divisions won\u2019t overwhelm VA policy work<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson is set to retire from the Senate at the end of the year.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he does worry about whether those improvements have gotten the attention of the public. He said internal surveys and metrics have shown increased satisfaction among veterans and employees, but that doesn\u2019t always translate into positive headlines for VA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy job is to make sure that we do tell our story,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, do we have warts? Absolutely in organization this big. But in the context of things, where we have been and where we are now, it&#8217;s tremendous story, and it&#8217;s a testament to the hard work of the people who work here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Veterans Day approaching, here are the top VA\u2019s executive\u2019s thoughts on successes and challenges with his department:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity and length. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>On the state of VA: <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;re in a much better place than this department has been in years. It has to do with the caliber of the leadership that we have here, the amount of support that we have from the White House, and the fact that people recognize that we are not only listening to them within the system but we are also changing the way we do business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You see it in all the surveys. Customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, it has never been higher. We\u2019ve had 3 million more (medical) appointments in this last year than we did the year before. That means people are voting with their feet. And I\u2019m very proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/05\/31\/with-major-changes-a-week-away-va-secretary-confident-his-department-is-ready\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WilkieCSPAN.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">With major changes a week away, VA secretary confident his department is ready<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">New community care rules that will allow hundreds of thousands of veterans to receive care outside the VA medical system go into effect on June 6.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>On the Mission Act and changes to outside care programs:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since June 6, we have had incredible success. The (new) decision support tool is working. We have certified over 6,000 urgent care clinics \u2026 We\u2019re having medical networks that peeled off because of mismanagement (of earlier community care programs) coming back, because they see that we are paying making payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where I\u2019ve seen the explosion and requests to go outside of the network has been in urgent care. And that makes sense, because that keeps people out of emergencies. But I couldn\u2019t be happier so far. (Veterans) are choosing to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/09\/new-veteran-suicide-numbers-raise-concerns-among-experts-hoping-for-positive-news\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4018590.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New veteran suicide numbers raise concerns among experts hoping for positive news<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">About 17 veterans a day die by suicide, a number that has stayed steady over a decade.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>On veterans suicide and the presidential task force tackling the issue: <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s talk about this in the context of American society. We are not divorced from problems that plague America. Teenage suicides are up 56 percent in the last 10 years. It\u2019s the leading cause of death among American youth. The numbers are going up all across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fourteen of the estimated 20 veterans deaths a day are (individuals) not in the VA system. That\u2019s our biggest challenge. But are we going to get to zero? No, human life is not predictable, it is not linear. We will never be able to eliminate it completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mental health is just part of the problem. Not everyone who takes a life has a mental illness. Addiction, homelessness, basic human tragedy \u2014 we can\u2019t divorce ourselves from the fact that some people go through a terrible trauma at one time in their lives, and that leads to leads to a tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What we haven\u2019t had is any national conversation about this. We\u2019ve never had a presidential Task Force look at this. We\u2019ve never had a whole of government approach. We\u2019ve never opened the aperture on support for non-governmental groups, for charities to become part of the solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/30\/will-va-be-ready-to-process-new-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-benefits-next-year\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_6509120108-1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Will VA be ready to process new \u2018blue water\u2019 Vietnam veterans benefits next year?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Lawmakers worry that unforeseen problems to lead to even more delays for infirm, aging veterans.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>On burn pits and disability cases related to toxic exposure: <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We rely on the National Academy of Science engineering and medicine for their expertise and telling us what the way forward is and treatment. There is this is too serious topic to deal with anecdotally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m committed, particularly on herbicides, on the Agent Orange issue, to present (changes) to the Congress next year. The decisions will be based on the science coming out of that institution, so that we get it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I want to do the same thing, particularly as we move closer to determinations on burn pits, to make sure that this is treated clinically and efficiently. We\u2019ve got to get it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/10\/24\/va-office-charged-with-whistleblower-protection-hurts-them-instead-investigators-say\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/VA.jpg_37e9e2.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA office charged with protecting whistleblowers hurts them instead, investigators say<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The VA inspector general found widespread concerns with the two-year-old office, and multiple practices that would discourage employees from reporting wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>On accountability and recent criticism of the VA Office of Whistleblower Protection: <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019ve put in new people at the office. The Inspector General report (released last month) is pretty clear about to deficiencies there, which we are working on, and they predates this team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But we have been removing people who are not living up to their oaths. I don\u2019t care how I do it, what mechanism, what statute. We are moving out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And my pledge is to do as much as I can to make sure that there is accountability up and down the chain. It\u2019s because of duty and a sense of honor. And I think people in the chain appreciate that. They know no matter where you are, that we\u2019re all held to a standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>On impeachment and congressional tensions with the White House:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My concern is always \u201cAre (lawmakers) going to do their business and pass their appropriations bills?\u201d That\u2019s an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with impeachment. They\u2019ve been having trouble with that for a long time. And we need them to do their work, so that we are clear as to how much we can spend and what we can spend it on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I keep saying that when it comes to this president, I\u2019ve had nothing but support. I can\u2019t think of any presidential candidate in the post-WWII era who has made veterans the centerpiece of his campaign and then fulfill those promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He is allowing me a very free hand to engage in fundamental reforms and given me the ability to go to Congress with a budget (increase) the likes of which we\u2019ve never seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After 16 months on the job, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie insists the department is performing better than ever before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,15,68,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3294],"class_list":["post-29553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-management","category-leadership","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ZW6TTJT34NHWFEWFT2LE2EAWDM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/11\/07\/even-bigger-budgets-for-va-secretary-offers-his-thoughts-on-department-progress-challenges\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Even bigger budgets for VA? Secretary offers his thoughts on department progress, challenges - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After 16 months on the job, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie insists the department is performing better than ever before.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Even bigger budgets for VA? Secretary offers his thoughts on department progress, challenges\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After 16 months on the job, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie insists the department is performing better than ever before.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2019\/11\/07\/even-bigger-budgets-for-va-secretary-offers-his-thoughts-on-department-progress-challenges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Federal Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-07T20:01:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T10:14:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/07\\\/even-bigger-budgets-for-va-secretary-offers-his-thoughts-on-department-progress-challenges\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/07\\\/even-bigger-budgets-for-va-secretary-offers-his-thoughts-on-department-progress-challenges\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Even bigger budgets for VA? 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