The Department of Veterans Affairs' backlog of veterans awaiting benefits has grown to more than 900,000, according to data gathered by the Center for Investigative Reporting.

CIR has made public information about wait times and number of claims processed by the average Veterans Affairs employee which reveal the gap between veterans' needs and VA productivity. The data was used in an ongoing CIR report about the VA's increasing failure to provide care to veterans under the Obama administration. 

SEE ALSO: Veterans Wait Longer For Benefits Under Obama

The data was released days after the Federal Circuit gave the VA 60 days to prepare a defense for charges that it is improperly denying benefits, and on the 40th anniversary of US combat troops' departure from Vietnam.

The White House is planning a $130 billion cut to Social Security benefits, including $1 billion to California veterans, which veterans' advocates argue will negatively impact benefits. 

Los Angeles has more homeless veterans than any other US city, and that population will continue to grow to the tens of thousands by 2015 if the VA continues at its current pace, reported the Nation.

For more on the veterans' claims backlog, see PBS NewsHour.

For the Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki's response, see the Washington Post.

See more Neon Tommy coverage of veterans' affairs here.

Reach Executive Producer Lauren Madow here. Follow her here.