On July 28, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) by Executive Order 6230, Veterans Regulation No. 2(a). The Board was delegated the authority to render the final decisions on appeal for the Administrator (now Secretary) and was directly responsible to the Administrator (Secretary). The Board was charged “to provide every possible assistance” to claimants and to take final action that would “be fair to the Veteran as well as the Government.” The Board continues to meet this charge.

In 2017 the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) was passed and took effect in February 2019. AMA created a new decision review process allowing veterans to choose from three lanes to determine the path their appeal will follow. The three lanes to choose from are supplemental claim, higher-level review, and appealing to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.