The Department of Veterans Affairs has started canceling 585 non-mission-critical or duplicative contracts worth about $1.8 billion combined following a review of nearly 2,000 professional services contracts.
VA said Monday the contract cancellations mark the first step in its ongoing audit of approximately 90,000 contracts totaling more than $67 billion.
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Redirecting Over $900M
After identifying duplicative contracts, VA can now shift approximately $900 million toward healthcare, services and benefits for veterans.
According to the agency, mission-critical contracts are not included in the reductions.
“Under President Trump, VA is focused on becoming more efficient, responsive and accountable to the Veterans, family members, caregivers and survivors we are charged with serving. We are putting Veterans first at VA,” said VA Secretary Douglas Collins.
“That means finding new and better ways to do our jobs and focus our resources. Every dollar we spend on wasteful or duplicative contracts is one less dollar we can spend on Veterans, and given that choice, I will always side with the Veteran,” added Collins.
Multilevel Review Process
VA conducted a multilevel review process involving VA senior leaders, contracting officials and career subject-matter expert employees.
Under the process, VA career employees assessed the contracts based on how they support the department’s beneficiaries and veterans. They were also given the option to stop a contract from being terminated if they thought the move would negatively impact the delivery of VA healthcare benefits and other services to beneficiaries.
Canceled contracts include those providing administrative services that the department can perform on its own, such as leadership coaching, staff mentoring and meeting agenda preparation. VA also moved to eliminate contracts offering the exact same services, such as third-party certifications for items like enhanced-use leases.
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