Quick answer
The campaign’s claim has a factual foundation: VA received historically high overall funding during Kiggans’s first term, and she voted for the appropriations legislation that enacted it. But the record does not establish that one representative personally provided the budget.
The story
Rep. Jen Kiggans’ campaign says she fought to fully fund the Department of Veterans Affairs and “provide them with their largest-ever budget” during her first term in Congress. The record supports that Kiggans voted for historically large VA funding packages. The wording gives one member more individual credit than the appropriations process can establish.
The claim
Kiggans’ 2026 campaign issues page says that during her first term she “successfully fought to fully fund the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and provide them with their largest-ever budget.” [1]
There are two questions inside that sentence.
Did VA receive historically high funding during Kiggans’ first term?
And can that result reasonably be attributed to Kiggans personally?
The FY2024 funding level
The Department of Veterans Affairs entered Kiggans’ first term with a rapidly growing budget, driven by medical care, disability compensation, mandatory benefits and implementation of the PACT Act.
The Biden administration’s FY2024 budget request sought $325.1 billion for VA and described it as the largest VA budget proposal in U.S. history. [5]
Congress ultimately enacted approximately $307.3 billion in FY2024 VA budget authority through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, according to the Congressional Research Service. [2]
That was higher than the roughly $303.3 billion enacted for FY2023 on the comparable CRS measure. [2]
VA benefits spending increased notably, while Veterans Health Administration funding was roughly flat in the year-to-year comparison used by CRS. [2]
The record therefore supports describing the total enacted VA budget as historically large.
Kiggans’ votes
Kiggans voted for the House version of the FY2024 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill in July 2023. [3]
That House bill passed largely along party lines.
The final funding package changed during House-Senate negotiations.
In March 2024, Kiggans voted for the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act that ultimately became law. Her office highlighted that the measure fully funded veterans health care, toxic-exposure programs and military construction priorities. [4][6]
That establishes that Kiggans supported the enacted appropriations.
What one representative can claim
Congressional appropriations are collective decisions.
The administration submits a budget request.
House and Senate appropriations committees write bills.
Both chambers vote.
Negotiators resolve differences.
The president signs or vetoes the final measure.
Kiggans participated in that process and voted for the final law. She also advocated publicly for veterans funding and served on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
But the appropriations record does not support treating the final VA budget as something one representative personally “provided.”
The final law reflected decisions made by hundreds of lawmakers and the executive branch.
What “fully funded” means
“Fully funded” is also partly a political description unless tied to a specific benchmark.
A department can receive the amount requested for one account while receiving less than requested for another.
CRS reported that the enacted FY2024 Veterans Health Administration amount was slightly below the administration request, while Veterans Benefits Administration funding exceeded the request. [2]
That means “fully funded” should not be read as “Congress enacted every dollar the administration requested in every VA account.”
It is more accurate to say Congress enacted historically high overall VA funding and that Kiggans voted for the final package.
Bottom line
The campaign’s budget-size claim has a factual foundation.
VA received historically high overall funding during Kiggans’ first term, and she voted for the appropriations legislation that enacted it.
But “Kiggans provided the VA its largest-ever budget” compresses a collective appropriations process into personal-credit language.
The public record establishes her vote and advocacy. It does not establish that she alone produced the funding level.
Sources
- Issues - Jen Kiggans for Congress — Jen Kiggans for Congress. Kiggans’s campaign says she successfully fought to fully fund VA and provide its largest-ever budget during her first term.
- Department of Veterans Affairs FY2024 Appropriations — Congressional Research Service. CRS reports the comparable FY2023 and FY2024 enacted totals, the FY2024 request, and VHA/VBA account comparisons.
- Roll Call 380 — Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. The House passed the FY2024 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill 219-211.
- Kiggans Votes to Support Veterans, Rein in Wasteful Spending — Office of Rep. Jen Kiggans. Kiggans’s office says she voted for the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, and describes its veterans and military funding.
- President Biden fiscal year 2024 budget proposes historic investments in Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors — U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The FY2024 VA request was $325.1 billion and was described as the largest budget proposal in U.S. history for Veterans and related beneficiaries.
- Fiscal Year 2024 Enacted Legislation — House Committee on Appropriations. H.R. 4366 is listed as enacted FY2024 full-year legislation including Military Construction and Veterans Affairs.