***WATCH SENATOR MURRAY’S FULL QUESTIONING HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, joined her Senate colleagues to consider President Biden’s Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) nominee, Joshua Jacobs to serve as Under Secretary for Benefits for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
During the hearing, Senator Murray highlighted the backlog of claims the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is currently experiencing, and questioned Jacobs on how he would ensure this backlog is addressed while ensuring that VA is prepared for the influx of claims from the PACT Act. Murray went on to question Jacobs about how he would better address military sexual trauma claims and how he would expand VA’s outreach to women veterans. The full exchange can be viewed HERE.
Senator Murray also introduced Jacobs to the Committee, expressing her strong support for his nomination. Murray’s full introduction of Jacobs can be viewed HERE.
Joshua Jacobs serves as the Senior Advisor for Policy Performing the Delegable Duties of the Under Secretary for Benefits at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In this role, he leads more than 25,000 VBA employees in the delivery of non-medical benefits programs. Jacobs previously served as Senior Advisor for Policy in the Office of the Secretary, where he helped to design and implement a new structure and process for enterprise governance and policy development. Jacobs also served as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs during the Obama-Biden Administration, where he was awarded the Secretary’s Meritorious Service Award. Jacobs served nine years in the U.S. Senate, including several managing Senator Murray’s veterans portfolio in her personal office and two years as Deputy Staff Director for the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee during Senator Murray’s tenure as Committee Chair. Jacobs is a graduate of the University of Washington.
Murray’s remarks as prepared, introducing Jacobs to the Committee are below:
“Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Moran, members of the committee, it is my privilege to introduce Joshua Jacobs, President Biden’s nominee to serve as Under Secretary for Benefits at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“And I’m also pleased to welcome his parents Linda and Richard, his wife Julia, and their children Yael, Amir, and Laura.
“Mr. Jacobs is an exceptionally qualified pick to fill this role, who will work day-in and day-out to make sure our nation lives up to its obligation to take care of our veterans.
“And I should know, because that’s exactly what he did when he worked in my office back in the day.
“Joshua came to work every day focused on Washington state veterans and their families and helped prepare the VA for an influx of veterans, expand clinics and facilities, and ensure veterans had the services they need to transition to civilian life—especially when it came to employment.
“That track record is why I was thrilled to have him return to work for me as Deputy Staff Director of this very Committee later on when I was Chair.
“He helped lead our efforts to get veterans more mental health services, expand support and services for women veterans, and ensure veterans had a seamless transition from the DoD to the VA, where too often servicemembers and veterans faced too much red-tape and VA faced too little accountability.
“Given his drive back then, it’s no surprise to me the work he has done since shows his deep commitment to serving those who served our nation, and why he is such an inspired choice for this role.
“When Mr. Jacobs was a Senior Advisor to the Office of the VA Secretary under President Obama, he was awarded the Secretary’s Meritorious Service Award.
“When President Biden was elected, he was chosen to serve on the incoming Administration’s VA transition team.
“After Mr. Jacobs returned to the Department as a Senior Advisor in 2021, he improved its decision-making process by establishing—and leading—the new Evidence Based Policy Council, and developing a new interagency policy development process to coordinate and implement more than 50 interagency policy efforts.
“As the Senior Advisor for Policy Performing the Delegable Duties of the Under Secretary for Benefits, Mr. Jacobs has taken on the enormous task of coordinating a team of 25,000 people, and 56 regional offices, processing centers, and headquarters as they work to manage over $100 billion dollars in benefits and make good on our promise to millions of veterans and their families.
“He knows full well how important a smoothly functioning VA is to the Americans who are relying on the benefits our nation promised them, and I have no doubt he will go to work every day determined to make sure our nation lives up to those promises.
“I know Mr. Jacobs, a Washington state native—and graduate of the University of Washington—will do great work for America’s veterans as Under Secretary for Benefits.
“I’m proud to support his nomination, and I look forward to working with him once he is confirmed.”
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