The Department of Veterans Affairs is a cabinet-level executive affairs department. They provide a variety of resources for eligible veterans including; health care, disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, education assistance, home loans, and also burial and memorial assistance. Veterans have had benefits offered to them since the revolutionary war, but there was not a federal agency to provide these benefits. In 1989 the VA became an official, cabinet level department. The VA employs over 400,000 employees nationwide, and they have over 170 medical centers and outpatient clinics across the country (Wikipedia). Program costs for the VA totaled to 273 billion in 2020. The VAs goal is to make sure veterans are taken care of after active duty, and to offer them support if needed. Congress added an additional role in 1982 allowing veteran facilities to be open to civilization if there were an overflow in civilian facilities