The Government Shutdown is Ending: VA Leadership Must Immediately Reclassify VR&E as Essential

The recent government shutdown, which is now imminently ending following a critical bipartisan breakthrough in the Senate, exposed a stark reality: The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program—a cornerstone for disabled veterans’ rehabilitation—was treated as non-essential and left in freefall.

The VA’s own recent press release (October 31, 2025) confirmed the crisis: 61,988 new applicants frozen in limbo and services halted for over 100,000 enrolled participants. This wasn’t bureaucratic inertia; it was a “significant disruption” caused by a glaring policy flaw under the Antideficiency Act. As VR&E reopens, the time to clear the backlog is here, but the immediate call must be for a permanent policy adjustment to reclassify VR&E staff as essential to prevent this failure in the future.

The Inexcusable Interruption

Imagine a disabled veteran, midway through VR&E training for a career in law or business. Their counselor vanishes overnight, the training program stalls, and monthly subsistence allowances teeter on the edge. This was the lived nightmare for thousands left adrift in a job market that doesn’t wait.

For those with severe employment handicaps, these interruptions are not mere delays; they are existential crises. Financial ruin looms, mental health deteriorates, and hard-won futures slip away. The VR&E backlog—now 61,988 strong and growing daily on top of an existing caseload exceeding 186,000—is a blockade to mandatory benefits.

The Irony Stings: Why VR&E Was Left Behind

The damage will endure long after the final appropriation bill is signed. VR&E was already chronically under-resourced. Now, counselors returning to work face an avalanche: chasing current demands while buried under this shutdown-created crisis.

The most stinging irony? VA Compensation and Pension claims continued uninterrupted, and Veterans Health Administration clinicians remained on duty. These services were protected because financial entitlement adjudication and life-sustaining medical care are deemed “necessarily implied” under the Antideficiency Act.

If adjudication for financial entitlements and life-sustaining medical care merits exemption, why not VR&E—the vital bridge to independence?

This is not optional support; it’s a statutory entitlement under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 31. Eligibility adjudications and plan development form the program’s core, delivering readjustment benefits and averting downstream perils like chronic unemployment and entrenched poverty. The holdup isn’t money—advance appropriations already secure payments—the holdup is classifying these core services as essential.

An Investment, Not an Expense

The economic case for VR&E’s essential status is compelling. For every tax dollar invested, there’s a powerful corresponding return: Program completers see household incomes rise 65%—from $57,000 to $95,000 annually—driving economic independence and slashing taxpayer burdens.

VR&E propels veterans into entrepreneurial leadership roles in business, law, and medicine. Former Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) and Representative Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), both VR&E beneficiaries, embody its transformative power. It is a shared imperative for honoring the enlistment oath.

The Fix is Executive Action, Not Congressional Bandwidth

VA leadership and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) hold the key to a permanent, immediate fix. They must re-interpret the Antideficiency Act to exempt VR&E staff as “necessarily implied” for entitlement delivery, mirroring exemptions already granted to Compensation processors and VHA clinicians.

The backlog alone constitutes “significant disruption,” risking economic fallout for 160,000+ veterans and applicants. This low-burden step would:

• Enable immediate resumption of claim adjudications, enrollments, and essential support.
• Prioritize backlog clearance alongside Compensation workloads.
• Avert an estimated $200 million-plus in long-term veteran crises.

No new funds required—just equity and pragmatism. This reinterpretation can be deployed in days, delivering a bipartisan victory that frees Congress for higher-stakes fights without demanding immediate bandwidth.

The government is reopening. Now, VA must act to ensure this crisis never happens again. We must demand VR&E’s essential status for seamless adjudications, payments, and processing. Policymakers: Reach out for draft language to OMB or your committees.

Let’s not let political gridlock rob a generation of heroes their due. The clock is ticking—act before the backlog becomes a grave.

By Benjamin Krause, 2025 Minnesota Vetrepreneur of the Year, VA-accredited attorney, journalist, and veteran—former VR&E beneficiary now advocating for the program to propel disabled veterans into leadership in law, medicine, and business.