On Wednesday, VA announced that there will be a commission to identify the best candidate for the position of under-secretary of benefits from a pool of applicants. The under-secretary is responsible for nearly 22,000 employees located at 56 regional offices. More than 4 million veterans and 500,000 dependents receive benefits administered by this part of VA. Benefits that the under-secretary would be responsible for include education, home loans, life insurance and disability compensation. The commission, with yet-to-be-appointed members, is expected to make a recommendation by late April. The recommendation goes to the president for consideration and any candidate would then have to be confirmed by the Senate.