WASHINGTON — A letter sent today from the Office of Management and Budget to the General Accountability Office officially exempts the Department of Veterans Affairs from mandatory budget cuts should sequestration occur.
The letter, signed by OMB Deputy General Counsel Steven D. Aitken to Julia C. Matta, GAO assistant general counsel for Appropriations and Budget, clearly states that “all programs administered by the VA, including Veterans’ Medical Care, are exempt from sequestration.”
“Disabled veterans can breathe a sigh of relief today knowing that VA programs are exempt from sequestration,” said Richard L. DeNoyer, national commander of the 2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.
“Today’s decision means the healthcare plans and programs the VA currently provides to millions of disabled veterans will continue unabated, as will claims processing and veterans’ burial benefits,” he said. “Protecting the VA is exactly what President Obama told me he would do during a meeting in the Oval Office in March, and now he has come through for America’s veterans and survivors. It’s a great day to be a veterans’ advocate.”
Read the OMB letter at http://www.vfw.org/uploadedFiles/VFW.org/VFW_in_DC/4-23-12.%20sequestration%20letter.pdf.