Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins warned Wednesday of further impacts to government services for former service-members amid the ongoing government shutdown, urging Congress to “pass the bill” expeditiously and reopen the government.

Speaking from the Washington, D.C., VA Medical Center on the 22 nd day of the government shutdown, Collins noted that veterans’ health care and disability benefits continued despite the lapse in appropriation, but warned of longer wait times for those seeking services and decried the impact on VA employees now forced to work without pay.

“Our clinics are operating. They're going through exactly what they've been doing all along,” Collins said.

But due to the shutdown, those processing benefit payments are doing so without pay, as are employees in

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