The Department of Veterans Affairs will fully reimburse veterans waiting for their education benefits, USA Today reports.
The Forever GI Bill, signed by President Donald Trump in 2017, expanded benefits for veterans, servicemembers, families and survivors. But the VA did not upgrade the technical capabilities to account for the changes, leaving thousands of veterans with difficult financial circumstances as payments were delayed with little to no warning.
The VA was supposed to grant the expanded benefits in August.
The move comes after top VA official Paul Lawrence came under fire by lawmakers for testifying that the agency did not plan to follow the current law to pay back veterans who were possibly short-changed.
VA Secretary Robert Wilkie released a statement shortly after Lawrence's appearance before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs saying every veteran will be made whole.
"Although VA has encountered issues with implementing the Forever GI Bill on Congress' timeline, we will work with lawmakers to ensure that — once VA is in a position to process education claims in accordance with the new law — each and every beneficiary will receive retroactively the exact benefits to which they are entitled under that law," Wilkie said in a statement.
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