The PACT Act grant rate is falling.

This report publishes the monthly record of every disability compensation claim VA has received and decided under the PACT Act, from the day the law was signed on August 10, 2022 through July 16, 2026. The records were obtained from the Veterans Benefits Administration under FOIA case 26-23669-F, granted in full, and are reproduced without alteration.

Four findings. First, the grant rate is falling: VA granted 78.6 percent of completed PACT claims in the law's first 12 months and 70.2 percent in the most recent 12 full months, a decline of 8.4 points. Second, cumulative denials crossed one million in July 2026 and stood at 1,007,526 by July 16, 2026. Third, August 2023, the deadline month for benefits backdated to the law's signing, remains the largest filing month on record at 181,467 claims. Fourth, VBA states it does not track PACT claims by presumptive condition category or exposure cohort, so the agency cannot report which exposure groups are driving grants or denials.

The dataset passed independent double transcription and matches VA's own published figures on two external anchors, one of them exactly, to the digit. What these records can and cannot support is set out in the methodology and in the questions this dataset cannot answer, below. The full dataset is free to download as CSV or JSON, and a suggested citation is at the end of this page.

1. Identify the record custodian. Claims statistics live with the Veterans Benefits Administration, so the request goes to the VBA Central Office FOIA Office. File through VA's FOIA page (va.gov/foia) or FOIA.gov, selecting the Veterans Benefits Administration as the component. Sending a request to the wrong component adds weeks.
2. Scope the request precisely. Our request asked for "aggregate statistical records on disability compensation claims filed under the PACT Act (Public Law 117-168) from August 10, 2022 to the present," broken out by month, "in native electronic format (Excel or CSV)," and stated plainly: "I am seeking aggregate data only, not records about any individual veteran." A defined subject, a defined date range, a requested format, and an explicit aggregate-only statement each remove a reason for delay or denial.
3. Request the right fee category and a fee waiver. We requested classification as a representative of the news media and a waiver of all fees, explaining that the records would be published in full, with methodology, at no charge, for public benefit and with no commercial purpose. VBA granted this waiver in this case and again in our follow-up case 26-25137-F. Individuals can also note that the first two hours of search and first 100 pages are typically free for non-commercial requesters.
4. Know the clock. Agencies owe a determination within 20 business days, though complex requests can be placed on a longer track with notice. This report's request was filed July 11, 2026 and granted in full on July 17, 2026. Our by-station follow-up was acknowledged within days but placed on the complex track, which is normal for larger datasets; the acknowledgement letter, hosted above, shows what that notice looks like.
5. Read the response for what is not there. A grant letter can contain findings of its own. This one stated that VBA does not track PACT claims by presumptive condition category or exposure cohort. Statements like that define the limits of what the agency can know about its own program, and they belong in the public record alongside the data.
6. If records are missing, appeal within 90 days. An administrative appeal goes to VA's Office of General Counsel (024), 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420, or by email to ogcfoiaappeals@va.gov, with a copy of the decision letter attached, within 90 days of the decision. If the appeal does not resolve it, the Office of Government Information Services (ogis@nara.gov) offers free mediation before litigation. We currently have one such appeal in progress on a separate case, documented in our FOIA log.

This guide describes public procedures under 5 U.S.C. 552 and our own filing experience. It is educational information, not legal advice.