Appeals Court Denies VA Request to Pause Veteran Appeals
A 9-0 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) was issued in response to a VA assertion that the federal government shutdown prevented its attorneys from continuing their work on veterans’ appeals of VA decisions on their disability claims.
The court classified the judicial review of veterans’ benefits as “an essential function” that must continue. The nine-judge panel of the CAVC, led by Chief Judge Michael Allen, fully rejected the VA’s legal reasoning.
The court’s written order directly countered the VA’s argument about “excepted” functions. The judges determined that the court’s own work—the judicial review of veterans’ benefits—is an “excepted function” that must continue, “notwithstanding a lapse in appropriations.”
Appeals Court Denies VA Request to Pause Veteran Appeals
In February 2025, the entity known as VA Digital Media Management published a post on the VA Secretary’s Blog titled, “VA Secretary Doug Collins Highlights Accomplishments in First 30 Days.” That blog post contains a quote from VA Secretary Doug Collins, declaring, “The Veteran is back first at the VA,” Collins stated. “We’re putting the Veteran first in everything we do.”
But apparently, putting veterans first does NOT extend to veteran benefit appeals, and the Department of Veterans Affairs went to court seeking an emergency pause on “nearly all” proceedings related to veterans’ disability benefits appeals due to the government shutdown.
That emergency request was unanimously rejected by a unanimous U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Newseek quotes the judges’ ruling, which notes, “Pausing VA’s deadlines in nearly every case before the Court is a significant and extreme request, and the Secretary has failed to demonstrate that such sweeping relief is appropriate at this time. Therefore, the Court will deny the Secretary’s motion, and all cases will continue to be processed in accordance with the Court’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, including all requirements and filing deadlines.”
Now that the court has determined the VA Secretary’s claim is without merit, the Department of Veterans Affairs must comply as we examine below.
The Case Against the Department of Veterans Affairs
The federal government shut down in October 2025. As the funding impasse continued, the Department of Veterans Affairs sought to claim a hardship due to what the VA called a hardship caused by expiring appropriations for managing appellate-level veteran benefit appeal cases.
In anticipation of an October 28 expiration deadline, the VA’s Office of General Counsel filed an ex parte motion with the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
An ex parte motion is one made “without all parties” present, meaning veterans and their representatives did not have an opportunity to argue against it before the filing. The motion requested a complete stay of proceedings for almost every case pending before the court.
The VA’s legal argument was based on the Anti-Deficiency Act, a law that prohibits federal agencies from spending funds they do not have or incurring financial obligations for which Congress has not appropriated funds.
The department contended that once its funding for this work lapsed, its attorneys could no longer be paid.
The VA claims these lawyers did not meet the specific criteria to be “excepted” personnel, legally allowed to work without pay during a shutdown, typically for functions related to the safety of human life or the protection of property.
Existing VA Policy
But as the court pointed out, “It is noteworthy that VA has determined that appellate review of veterans benefits cases is an excepted function…” Despite this, the VA tried to claim that its appellate attorneys did not meet the excepted employee standard; it argued that requiring them to work would violate federal law.
The VA’s filing acknowledged the negative effects on veterans, stating that “delaying these Veterans cases… is undesirable.” However, it presented the pause as the “only” legally viable path to avoid violating the Anti-Deficiency Act. The appeals court decided it was NOT the only option.
This finding established that the constitutional process of judicial review for veterans’ disability entitlements cannot be halted by a congressional funding dispute.
If the Decision Had Gone the Other Way
If the court had approved the motion, it would have frozen the dockets at the CAVC. This court is the primary judicial body for reviewing benefits decisions appealed from the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA). It handles approximately 15,000 cases each year.
A pause would have added an indefinite delay to a system where, according to court data, the median time for an appeal was already 222 days. Veterans who have potentially life-threatening conditions or who require extended medical support would be directly affected by such a delay.
What To Know About the Court’s Decision
As noted above, the judges noted that the VA had already designated the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) as an “excepted function.” This meant BVA judges and staff were required to continue working and issuing new decisions, which are the very decisions that veterans appeal to the CAVC.
The court found the VA’s position inconsistent: it sought to stop all appeals from the BVA while simultaneously allowing the BVA to continue issuing new decisions that may be appealed.
The court characterized the VA’s motion as a “significant and extreme request.” The judges said, “The secretary has failed to demonstrate that such sweeping relief is appropriate at this time.”
About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
