[House Hearing, 119 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
VA OFFICE OF INFORMATION
AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURE AND PRIORITIES
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY
MODERNIZATIOOF THE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MONDAY, JULY 14, 2025
__________
Serial No. 119-29
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via http://govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
61-356 WASHINGTON : 2025
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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
MIKE BOST, Illinois, Chairman
AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, MARK TAKANO, California, Ranking
American Samoa, Vice-Chairwoman Member
JACK BERGMAN, Michigan JULIA BROWNLEY, California
NANCY MACE, South Carolina CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire
MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa SHEILA CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK,
GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina Florida
DERRICK VAN ORDEN, Wisconsin MORGAN MCGARVEY, Kentucky
MORGAN LUTTRELL, Texas DELIA RAMIREZ, Illinois
JUAN CISCOMANI, Arizona NIKKI BUDZINSKI, Illinois
KEITH SELF, Texas TIMOTHY M. KENNEDY, New York
JEN KIGGANS, Virginia MAXINE DEXTER, Oregon
ABE HAMADEH, Arizona HERB CONAWAY, New Jersey
KIMBERLYN KING-HINDS, Northern KELLY MORRISON, Minnesota
Mariana Islands
TOM BARRETT, Michigan
Jon Clark, Staff Director
Matt Reel, Democratic Staff Director
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION
TOM BARRETT, Michigan, Chairman
NANCY MACE, South Carolina NIKKI BUDZINSKI, Illinois, Ranking
MORGAN LUTTRELL, Texas Member
SHEILA CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK,
Florida
Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public
hearing records of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs are also
published in electronic form. The printed hearing record remains the
official version. Because electronic submissions are used to prepare
both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process
of converting between various electronic formats may introduce
unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the
current publication process and should diminish as the process is
further refined.
C O N T E N T S
----------
MONDAY, JULY 14, 2025
Page
OPENING STATEMENTS
The Honorable Tom Barrett, Chairman.............................. 1
The Honorable Nikki Budzinski, Ranking Member.................... 3
WITNESSES
Panel I
Mr. Eddie Pool, Acting Assistant Secretary for Information
Technology and Chief Information Officer, Office of Information
and Technology, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs............ 5
Accompanied by:
Mr. Jack Galvin, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
and Deputy Chief Information Officer, Office of
Information and Technology, U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs
Dr. Timothy Puetz, Ph.D., Deputy Chief Information Officer
for IT Budget & Finance and Chief Financial Officer,
Office of Information and Technology, U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs
Ms. Devon Beard, Acting Deputy Chief Information Officer for
People Science and Chief People Officer, Office of
Information and Technology, U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs
Ms. Carol Harris, Director, Information Technology and
Cybersecurity Issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office.... 7
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements Of Witnesses
Mr. Eddie Pool Prepared Statement................................ 25
Ms. Carol Harris Prepared Statement.............................. 27
VA OFFICE OF INFORMATION
AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURE AND PRIORITIES
----------
MONDAY, JULY 14, 2025
Subcommittee on Technology Modernization,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 3 p.m., in
room 360, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Tom Barrett
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Barrett, Budzinski, and Cherfilus-
McCormick.
OPENING STATEMENT OF TOM BARRETT, CHAIRMAN
Mr. Barrett. Good afternoon, the subcommittee will come to
order.
I want to thank by or start by thanking our witnesses for
being here today and for the testimony that you are going to
provide and the insight you are going to give to our committee.
I appreciate that.
I want to kind of set the stage for why we are here today
and why the committee is interested in this topic. Nothing in
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) functions without
technology.
I think we all understand that and it is a huge part of
what makes the VA work and in certain instances make the VA not
work as well as it could. It is also the really predominant
focus of course of the jurisdiction of this subcommittee as
well.
It is a simple statement, but it gets to the heart of what
Office of Information and Technology (OIT)--why OIT's mission
is so important. The VA needs reliable modern technology in
order to provide the quality benefits and services that you our
veterans deserve and have earned through their service.
Since its creation in 2016, OIT has been constantly
fighting a two-front battle. The first of which is to maintain
and secure the existing technology systems that we have to
shore those up from vulnerability and make sure that they
function properly and in a way that we have expected. The
second is to replace or modernize what is broken and outdated.
It reminds me a little bit of our physical infrastructure
throughout the country where we have roads and bridges that are
being maintained over time, but also those that reach the point
of needing replacement and having to do both at once is a
difficult and challenging process. You have my respect for the
difficulty and challenges that that presents.
While it is easy to ask for more money, history has shown
that funding alone does not necessarily result in the outcomes
that we would like and many of OIT's persistent issues raises
important questions in this way. Is OIT getting the best
possible result for their technology investments?
Is OIT prioritizing cost effectiveness and veteran outcomes
in their decision-making? Does OIT operate a certain way
because it is the best way or is it because it is the only way
we have ever done it. Sometimes we get into a decision matrix
where we have done things a certain way over time and that
becomes the bit of a de facto experience.
I have run into that here in Congress and, you know, we are
elected to do a certain job and oftentimes are faced with well,
we have always done it this way so that is the way we are going
to continue to do it.
I was pleased to see that President Trump's VA budget
request for Fiscal Year 2026 laid out a brand of smarter, not
bigger and a strategy for OIT that takes direct aim at many of
OIT's problems.
According to the strategy, OIT will take advantage of past
investments in automation and digital services to streamline
and become a more cost effective organization. They plan to
change workflows and align similar functions across services to
become more efficient.
OIT will be making substantial investment in cybersecurity
monitoring and infrastructure readiness to ensure that their
hardware and software can meet the demands after VA's growing
operations.
I look forward to hearing about these plans and more from
our VA's witnesses today. As technology changes and new
problems, arise OIT needs to be flexible and adaptable in order
to deliver the best outcome for our veterans. OIT's priorities
should determine how the organization is structured, not the
other way around.
However, we cannot talk about smarter Information
Technology (IT) strategy without talking about the money that
VA has spent on IT projects that have not delivered as were
expected.
For years this committee has highlighted the wasteful
spending, the over budget projects, poor outcomes that seem to
come with all IT projects in VA, but really throughout
government as I have seen. OIT needs to be involved in the
conversation from the very beginning before VA buys new IT
systems, starts projects or makes major investments.
As I said before, nothing in VA functions without
technology so there must be real ownership and emphasis from
the VA's central office to involve the experts at OIT in
technology decisions. Doing so might help avoid costly
disasters down the road.
Earlier this year we held an Oversight hearing on VA's
software licensing management where we dug into the reasons why
VA struggles to track whether the software licenses that are
purchased are actually being used. The VA still does not know
exactly how much money they are wasting on unused or
duplicative software licenses.
This committee has heard examples of software the VA
purchased, tested and hen put on a shelf and never used after
that. It is taxpayer money that is not being used to fix or
modernize VA's IT systems because it was spent on IT that
nobody will ever use.
It is also not going to the benefit of a veteran or rapidly
responding to an appeal or developing a claim in a more
thoughtful or meaningful or efficient process.
Major IT projects that support healthcare systems,
education benefits and financial management are way over budget
and have consistently fallen below expectations. This is just a
few examples and there are many more that we could point to.
People of Michigan's Seventh congressional District sent me
to Congress to make VA smarter and work better for our Nation's
veterans and I want to do my part to make sure that he follow
on that commitment.
As the chairman of this subcommittee, my job is to make
sure that the billions of dollars that VA spends on IT is
accounted for and produces real results. The strategy that OIT
is taking seems to focus on being more careful with big
projects, making sure they deliver results and spend money
wisely and are involved in IT decisions from the start. I look
forward to discussing this strategy and more with our witnesses
here today.
Last, I am looking forward to working with the President
nominee for the VA Chief Information Officer (CIO) Mr. Ryan
Cote after he is confirmed by my Senate colleagues. We urge
them to move quickly and swiftly in that direction. OIT has an
important mission in the work that OIT is doing today, as well
as the work Mr. Cote will do has a direct and meaningful impact
on veterans' lives.
With that, I want to yield to Ranking Member Budzinski for
her opening statement, and again, thank you all for being here.
OPENING STATEMENT OF NIKKI BUDZINSKI, RANKING MEMBER
Ms. Budzinski. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman for
holding today's hearing. I am glad VA's acting CIO is here to
present to discuss the Office of Information and Technology's
organizational structure and priorities. Everything VA does to
provide veterans with world class healthcare and benefits they
have earned happens on computers. Information technology is
foundational to the Department. I will say that again. I really
truly believe that that is foundational to the services we
provide to our veterans.
I am extremely concerned that this foundation is at risk.
OIT's Fiscal Year 2025 budget request was already what many
deemed a quote, unquote maintenance budget, mostly due to
Republican's spending caps. This meant that many in the
Department's modernization efforts had to be throttled and VA's
already aging IT infrastructure continues to crumble.
To make matters worse, the VA administration and Secretary
Collins just informed Congress that they tried to illegally
transfer $182 million from OIT to Veterans Health
Administration (VHA) and Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)
to compensate for even more community care expansion and
mandatory overtime for claims examiners.
As if that was not bad enough, the Fiscal Year 2026 budget
request cuts OIT's budget by half a billion dollars. In each of
our hearings over the past 6 months, I have repeatedly
highlighted the importance of OIT and the critical employees in
this office. The budget and the planned reorganization of OIT
makes it clear that Secretary Collins and the Trump
administration do not share those same feelings. I expect to
hear from my colleagues that they think Congress has long since
over budgeted and over resourced this office, without fixing
any issues.
I also expect to hear about how the Democrats are simply
fine with quote, unquote the status quo. I could not disagree
with that more. While there are many struggles in VA's
technology modernization efforts, they are not going to be
fixed by syphoning money and resources out of the office to
fund VBA overtime pay or community care. This year's budget
request indicates one thing and it is not a decrease of
bureaucracy. For years we have seen a continuous dismantlement
of capacity by expanding its portfolio of what it must take on
without making equitable investments in resources and staff.
More work with less resources is never a recipe for success.
Further, I have strong issues with the written testimony VA
submitted for this hearing. It is almost as if VA is bragging
about the loss of trusted, hardworking and knowledgeable
Federal employees, many of whom are veterans themselves to the
voluntary retirement program or VERA. Of those who have
participated in the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) and VERA
programs, VA notes 78 percent of the these were retirement
eligible, which reads to me that VA lost a significant amount
of institutional knowledge and technical expertise.
That is extremely troublesome, especially as the remaining
VA's are poised to take on more and more work to compensate for
contract cuts, staffing cuts and accelerated deployments.
The fatigue that is likely to cause creates major risk for
system stability and cybersecurity. I am also concerned about
the office's reliance on quote, unquote natural attrition to
reach whatever staffing goals that they have set for themselves
or have been set for them. With national attrition you can
control the size of the team, but it is much harder to control
the composition. VA has already lost critical technology
expertise and if the Department does not get this under
control, it is going to lose even more.
Ultimately, I am concerned that if VA's IT foundation is
allowed to continue crumbling, the Department will not be there
for generations of veterans. We cannot allow this to happen.
I look forward to hearing from both the VA and U.S.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) witnesses today on this
reorganization and the potential intended and unintended
impacts. I will close by saying that I hope VA gets a Senate
confirmed CIO soon.
I hope that whoever the administration chooses, they are
competent and qualified to lead one of largest information and
technology programs in the country, if not the world. VA
employees and veterans deserve nothing less.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you, Ranking Member Budzinski.
I am now going to introduce our witnesses from VA's Office
of Information Technology, Mr. Eddie Pool, acting assistant
secretary for information technology and chief information
officer. A very long title, sir. Thank you for being here.
Accompanying Mr. Pool is Mr. Jack Galvin, the acting
principal deputy assistant secretary and deputy chief
information officer. Also lot to fit on a business card.
Mr. Tim Puetz, deputy information officer for IT budget and
finance and Chief Financial Officer.
Ms. Devon Beard, acting deputy chief information officer
for people science and chief people officer. I think we used to
call that Human Resources (HR). Is that correct? Okay, thank
you.
Finally, we have Ms. Carol Harris, the director of
information technology and cybersecurity at the and Government
Accountability Office. I was telling my staff, Carol, that I
think we are just going to have to get you an office in the
Cannon building at this point since you are here as frequently
as you are and we appreciate your willingness to come
participate and give us your insight.
Thank you all.
I ask the witnesses to please stand and raise your right-
hand.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Barrett. Thank you and let the reflect that all
witnesses have answered in the affirmative.
Mr. Pool, you are now recognized for 5 minutes to deliver
your opening statement on behalf of VA.
STATEMENT OF EDDIE POOL
Mr. Pool. Thank you, Chairman. Chairman Barrett, Ranking
Member Budzinski, and distinguished members of the
subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on
behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of
Information and Technology. I am Eddie Pool performing the
delegatable duties of the assistant secretary for OIT and VA's
chief information officer.
I am honored to appear before you to provide an update on
the status of OI and T and the critical work we are doing to
deliver secure, modern and veteran-centered IT solutions. I am
accompanied by my OI and T colleagues, Dr. Timothy Puetz chief
financial officer and deputy CIO for IT, budget and finance.
Mr. Jack Galvin, deputy CIO for end user services and acting
principal deputy assistant secretary for OI and T. Ms. Devon
Beard, acting deputy CIO and chief people officer for the
office of people science.
Today I will focus on three strategic imperatives, budget
optimization, workforce reshaping and cybersecurity dominance.
First the budget, we are executing a bold, mission-first
approach so every dollar delivers maximum value to our Nation's
veterans. Over the past few months we have conducted an
exhaustive review of our budgets, resulting in the immediate
reinvestment of $89 million into infrastructure readiness
programs with an additional 100 million poised for strategic
reinvestment.
We have intensified contract oversight and enforced
accountability with acquisition partners without degrading
service delivery. In many instances we have enhanced delivery
of those services. We are consolidating VA's digital experience
into a single modern platform with the goal of securely and
seamlessly delivering the benefits and services to our Nation's
veterans.
This platform now supports over 16 million monthly unique
users, along with over 3 million veterans who have downloaded
the VA mobile app. Our overarching goal is to bring VA to the
veteran through this platform.
Additionally, we are launching an initiative to consolidate
VA context and it is to deliver an improved experience for
veterans, whether it be just by phone, chat, text or other
methods.
To further optimize, we are requesting changes to
appropriation language to eliminate rigid statutory subaccounts
and authorize a 3-year availability for IT funds. This will
empower VA to plan and execute with greater agility, a line of
investments with outcomes, minimize procurement risk and
operational delays.
Second, the workforce. We are reshaping OI and T's
workforce to achieve veteran-facing outcomes with speed and
precision. Through participation in U.S. Office Personnel
Management (OPM) and the VA deferred retirement programs and
voluntary early retirement authorities, 78 percent of voluntary
departures resulted in retirements.
In our reshaping efforts we are simplifying our
organizational structure and reallocating and aligning
positions to critical IT functions. This reorganization
reallocation of positions is designed to cut bureaucratic
overhead, accelerate decision-making and focus every OI and T
position on delivering secure, reliable and modern IT solutions
to improve veterans' lives.
Finally, cybersecurity. Cybersecurity threats are not
static and neither is our posture. We are pivoting from
compliance based checked boxes to dynamic threat informed
defenses with proactive risk mitigation to stay ahead of
evolving threats. This shift demands that Federal Information
Security Modernization Act (FISMA) and Federal Information
Systems Control Audit Manual (FISCAM) audits accurately reflect
the complexity and operational reality of VA's massive digital
infrastructure.
We are implementing Zero Trust architecture (ZTA),
enterprise wide, instilling a security-first mindset that
includes rigorous identity verification, continuous monitoring
and strict access controls. Our success requires continued
reinvestment in modern cybersecurity tools, skilled personnel
and rigorous standardized processes. The sensitive information
we steward demands nothing less than unwavering vigilance and
world class cyber defenses.
In conclusion, the changes we are implementing are focused
on a single mission, delivering unparalleled, life-changing
outcomes to America's veterans. We are not simply modernizing
IT systems, we are building a future-ready VA, where platforms
are secure, teams are agile and every taxpayer dollar generates
maximum impact for the veterans we serve.
With that, I welcome your questions.
[The Prepared Statement Of Eddie Pool Appears In The
Appendix]
Mr. Barrett. Thank you, Mr. Pool. Your written statement
will be entered into the hearing record.
I assume the rest of your panel from VA is accounted for in
your remarks as well. Thank you.
I will now go to Ms. Harris, you are recognized for 5
minutes to deliver your opening statement on behalf of GAO.
STATEMENT OF CAROL HARRIS
Ms. Harris. Thank you, Chairman Barrett and Ranking Member
Budzinski. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about VA as you
examine the Department's planned efforts to reform within its
Office of Information Technology. VA operates and maintains an
IT infrastructure that is intended to provide the backbone
necessary to meet the day-to-day operational needs of its
medical centers, veteran-facing systems, benefits delivery
system, memorial services and all other systems supporting the
Department's mission. It is also responsible for protecting
veteran data against cybersecurity threats.
We have reported on VA's challenges with managing a myriad
of major IT acquisitions and operations such as software
licensing and cloud procurement over the years. VA's track
record of delivering failed or troubled IT systems is in large
part why we designated VA healthcare as a high risk area for
the Federal Government in 2015. We also added VA acquisition
management to our high-risk list in 2019 due challenges with
managing its acquisition workforce and inadequate strategies
and policies among other things. Both areas remain high risk
today.
As requested, I will highlight some key reform efforts of
VA's IT Fiscal Year 2026 IT budget request and then our work on
leading practices and selected questions for assessing agency
reform.
The VA has requested $7.3 billion to fund its IT systems in
Fiscal Year 2026, an $300 million overall decrease from the
prior year. It has also requested funding to support roughly
7,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, which is an overall
decrease of about 11.7 percent from the 2025 enacted levels.
Additionally, the budget request proposed amounts also
reflects reduced spending on duplicative legacy systems and
pauses a procurement of new systems until VA can conduct a full
review of them resulting in about a $500 million reduction.
Further, the VA's request states that a reduction of 931
full-time equivalents is consistent with maturing technology
delivery models and a shift toward automation and digital
services.
We have found that effective reform efforts require a
combination of people, processes, technologies and other
critical success factors to achieve results. Our prior work
describes 12 leading practices that Federal agencies can use in
agency reform efforts, including efforts to streamline and
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
These 12 practices fall into four broad categories such as
the process for developing reforms and strategically managing
the Federal workforce. Our prior work also identifies key
questions that can be used to assess the development and
implementation of agency reforms. For example, what data and
evidence has the agency used to develop and justify its
proposed reforms? How has the agency ensured their continued
delivery of services during reform implementation.
To what extent has the agency conducted strategic workforce
planning to determine whether it will have the needed resources
and capacity, including the skills and competencies in place
for the proposed reforms. Consideration of these leading
practice and relevant questions can benefit VA's development
and implementation of its reform efforts.
My hope is that VA will be able to satisfactorily answer
these key questions for you today. If not, be able to pivot, to
do the work necessary and adjust plans accordingly, to be able
to give you satisfactory responses in the near future. Because
if these leading practices and relevant questions are
effectively implemented, such efforts can result in success in
overcoming VA's long history of ineffectively managing IT
resources.
On a final note, we have 26 open recommendations that
relate to the VA's IT operations and cybersecurity posture.
They are foundational in nature so I strongly urge the
Department to get those fully addressed quickly. Doing so will
put them in a stronger position to succeed in many of their
plans for form initiative.
That concludes my statement and I look forward to
addressing your questions.
[The Prepared Statement Of Carol Harris Appears In The
Appendix]
Mr. Barrett. Thank you for your testimony, Ms. Harris. The
written statement you provided will be entered into the hearing
record.
From here we will proceed with questioning. I will
recognize myself for 5 minutes. Thank you all for participating
in today's hearing.
Mr. Pool I wanted to begin with your statements and have
some questions for you. The Fiscal Year 2026 budget document
that OIT has laid out a smarter, not bigger IT strategy. Can
you give me some examples of how OIT is not being as smart as
they could be currently.
Mr. Pool. Thank you, Mr. Chairman for the question. To your
comments that you made in your opening remarks, I believe it
was the stuff that is never used. That is stuff we are no
longer doing. Our budget for 2026 and beyond will be spent on
things that again drive maximum value to the veteran community.
Things that do not have a use or do not provide value or
maximum value, those will be repurposed and reinvested where
again we are getting the biggest bang for our buck for the
veterans of this country, as they deserve.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you. I appreciate that.
From there, can you tell me how you are reorganizing your
workforce to deliver services more efficiently, through the
process improvement that you kind of touched on in your opening
remarks.
Mr. Pool. Sure, thank you, Mr. Chairman, again. OI and T's
reorganization we are focusing again not just our investment
capital, but our human capital as well, making sure that our
organization is aligned to effectively deliver the most
significant outcomes that we can for the Department. Where we
have things that again are not driving significant value, we
are looking, analyzing and realigning those functions to again
bring that--bring those outcomes that we are after.
Essentially, we are simply making sure that every decision
that we make, every dollar we spend, every realignment,
repurpose--everything that we do, again our north star is that
we are driving absolute maximum value for the Department and in
turn the greatest impact we can make on the veteran community.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you. Would you agree with me that
essentially IT and this technological improvement is done to
alleviate the need for more manual, human-driven processes that
we can rely more on automated features or more technology-
driven process improvement, thereby requiring us to have fewer
manual processes in there. As a result, fewer people involved
in that chain of activity going on.
Mr. Pool. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, absolutely. It is
about automating what we can automate. Working smarter, not
harder, absolutely.
Mr. Barrett. Yes, I do not think we--it is not the position
of me or certainly of others I assume on this committee to
completely automate anything to the point that we do not have
human interaction in the process to bring about the best
outcome necessary. I think since the dawn of technology we have
used it to do things to alleviate the necessitation of manual,
you know, processes in labor along the way.
The discussion around reduction in some of the IT staff
around 12 percent I think Ms. Harris pointed out a little bit
more at 11. something, close to 12 percent. Can you give us
some insight into what that would involve and who exactly would
be impacted by that?
Mr. Pool. I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the question. Yes,
in terms of the overall staffing numbers today, we are at
approximately 8,205 FTEs. As part of our organizational
reshaping, a lot of those billets are being looked at and
analyzed. Like I said, the goal is not to reduce necessarily
the numbers, but it is to make sure that we are optimizing how
we allocate those resources.
I will turn it over to Ms. Devon Beard who can speak a
little bit more about the breakdown of the numbers for you.
Thank you.
Ms. Beard. Yes, we are currently about a decrease of 100
employees from the start of January. We did participate in the
OPM, VA and VERA program within the VA. Those were sprinkled
across our organization but we were able to sustain those
without any impact to our veterans due to succession planning,
cross training, upscaling, reassignments. The tools that are in
our toolkit to make sure that we every day have the resources
that we need to meet our veterans.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you. Can you briefly I have only go
about 15 seconds left can you condition firm that no position
with actual IT application, like interfacing, coding, things of
that sort are being eliminated throughout any of this process.
Ms. Beard. Once again, we are going through the workforce
reshaping activities. Those are all being focused on are they
delivering the largest value. As long as they align with our
guiding light, then absolutely we are retaining those so we can
meet our mission.
Mr. Barrett. Okay. I was told in some briefing ahead of
this that it was mostly in support, not to wreck IT interfacing
positions, but more in the supportive roles of that. Can you
confirm that?
Ms. Beard. Yes, I can confirm a lot of back office or
administrative type support functions are absolutely being
evaluated. As you mentioned in your opening do the processes
that we have today need to remain in the way that they are? Are
there redundancies that have built up over time that we need to
reevaluate and make sure that we can accomplish what is still
needed but do it in a most effective manner.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you.
Ranking Member Budzinski, for 5 minutes.
Ms. Budzinski. Thank you, Chairman. I will actually try to
pick up where you left off here. My question was going to be
for Mr. Pool, but I will open it up to Ms. Beard as well if you
have answers to this.
Were you just saying that there were 100 people that have
taken either the DRP or the VERA, they have accepted--you have
accepted their resignations, 100 people within OIT? Is that
what you had said.
Mr. Pool. Let me hand it over to Ms. Beard, ranking member.
It is actually not 100, it is actually somewhat north of that.
Ms. Beard.
Ms. Budzinski. Okay.
Ms. Beard. Our total participation in the program is 1,172
as of today.
Ms. Budzinski. Okay, that took advantage of one of those
too. Okay.
Ms. Beard. Yes.
Ms. Budzinski. Then when you were talking about it and I
appreciate what were you saying that these are folks that were
providing support. I guess my concern is that support does that
support the overall mission of OIT so at what level or what
point does that type of a level of vacancies then erode the
overall mission of OIT----
I guess I will direct this to you, Mr. Pool--if you could
kind of further elaborate on when you were accepting these
early retirements or resignations, how did you kind of consider
that when they came to you? Does it in any way erode what you
are trying to accomplish within OIT.
Mr. Pool. Yes, thank you, Ranking Member Budzinski.
Yes, to answer your question this is largely an opportunity
where we have looked at where duplicated functions exist but
then IT and where these administrative functions are being
performed elsewhere.
I will use HR as an example where in OI and T we built our
own HR function within the IT department. This is a shared
service that we can get from the Department level HR area so
that in itself is a pretty significant opportunity where we are
able to basically reinvest back into the mission focused
functions of IT. To be as, again, as mission facing, mission
purposed as we possibly can.
Ms. Budzinski. I guess would it be possible to provide to
this subcommittee kind of a list of you know who participated
in this reorganization and where these resignations or early
retirements have come, just so we can kind of better
understand.
I appreciate the example you gave with HR but obviously if
it is well north of 1,000 people, just concerned about where
all those are coming from.
Mr. Pool. Yes, Congresswoman. We can absolutely do that.
Ms. Budzinski. Okay, thank you.
Could I just ask, Ms. Harris, could you kind of elaborate a
little bit on, you know, what you have been able to observe as
far as OIT's workforce planning and how they looked at this? I
know they have done a significant amount of restructuring.
Ms. Harris. Yes so back in January 2025 we actually issued
a report evaluating VA's cyber workforce in particular. I think
those trends can probably be applied across OIT. What we found
was OIT's strategic workforce plan was incomplete. They do not
have an inventory of their current workforce skills and
competencies so in terms of if, you know, with the
restructuring not even having a baseline of what it is that
they have, it is going to be difficult to tell, okay, from
there what is it that you are going to project to and what you
are going to need in the future.
They also did not comprehensively identify their current
and future human capital needs and skills and competencies.
Those are essential things that you are going to need with any
reform effort. Whatever your goals are and objectives are for a
reform effort, you are going to need to make sure that the
workforce matches that need.
Being able to have those processes in place and have a
complete picture of what you currently have and what you need
to have in the future to match your reform effort, that is
essential. Right now VA does not have that capability. We have
open recommendations related to that.
Ms. Budzinski. Okay. Could I just, Mr. Pool, ask you to
kind of respond to that? I would be curious kind of how you
might have looked through your processes in these different
early retirements, what processes were in place?
Talk a little bit more about that and kind of trying to
meet it metric I think the GAO is pointing out being important
to the overall--again, the mission of OIT.
Mr. Pool. Yes, thank you for the question again,
Congresswoman.
We looked at every single one of the individuals that took
advantage of these opportunities and assessed that from a
leadership perspective to ensure that this would not create any
operational gaps or introduce unnecessary risk to the
Department. Going through that process we made certain that in
order to honor the request, the voluntary requests that were
being submitted and again we had mitigation strategies in place
to ensure continuity of operations.
As I mentioned previously, it gave us the opportunity to
actually bring efficiencies in some areas and optimize some of
those processes and workflows to really again provide a better
outcome for the Department. It was very, very rationalized and
very, very closely analyzed as we went about that process.
Ms. Budzinski. I think I am out of time, but I will yield
back for now.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you. Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick for 5
minutes.
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick. Thank you, Chair Barrett and thank
you Ranking Member Budzinski for convening today's hearing.
As a former healthcare executive and former ranking member
of this subcommittee, I understand that information technology
is vital in delivering world class healthcare in fulfilling our
sacred promise to our veterans. I also know that significant
organizational change can be disruptive, but often necessary.
The way Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Mr.
Vogt have approached these changes at OIT seemed intentionally
cruel. I have heard you trying to right this ship and recognize
the valuable contributions of the employees while implementing
the change. Mr. Pool, what other steps are you taking to repair
employee morale?
Mr. Pool. Thank you for the question, Congresswoman. It is
a good opportunity to talk about the bigger picture at VA.
Obviously change is very challenging. In this particular
instance change is very necessary. It is an opportunity under
this administration to really improve the things that VA on a
scale have really not seen before.
As we go about that, we are doing very frequent
communications. We have a lot of activities underway. We have
surveying and taking a pulse of the organization. Again, just
to check in a make sure, you know, the workforce is getting the
information that they need.
Particularly through the DRP programs we made certain that
we had lots of frequent communications, lots of options, lots
of questions and answers with the workforce so that the
employees could make the best decision for themselves and their
families, given the opportunity that has presented.
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick. What are you doing to bolster
retention efforts?
Mr. Pool. To bolster retention efforts we are again making
our mission focus back on the veteran. We are focusing
exclusively on trying to optimize everything that we do to
drive maximum value.
I think that in itself has been a uniter with the staff and
a good focus on the organization to really again focus on our
core mission, what can we do to improve services to veterans
across the board through technology.
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick. Do you have any mechanisms in
place that can actually truly track feedback to make sure that
you are getting the desired effect?
Mr. Pool. Yes, Congresswoman, we absolutely actually do. In
fact, I will yield to Ms. Beard who will talk a little bit more
about those mechanisms.
Ms. Beard. Yes, thank you for the questions. During a time
of change it is so important to have strong communications with
the staff that make sure that we are providing back the
visibility and understanding and why we are doing what we are
doing. Since January especially we have been doing a lot of
town halls and other communications.
We have an over 80 percent satisfaction rate with over 78
percent attendance, so good saturation along with strong
satisfaction. On the development side, we also have released a
career developmental portal for all categories along the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
cybersecurity codes for employees that focuses on not only
assessing their current skills and upscaling into the areas
they want to do.
Our focus around retention is not only to take care of them
now, but also take care of what the VA's going to need and what
they need to continue their growth here with OI and T.
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick. Thank you. My next question has to
do the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), because there
has been significant changes within the organization. How much
involvement has the CISO had?
Mr. Pool. Thank you, Congresswoman. She has been involved
as has her executive team. I believe that organization has four
executives in the Department. What we have done is primarily
focused on the operational aspects and then again with the CISO
herself, that is going to be more focused on the policy side of
things.
Operationally, we are looking at those immediate concerns,
but as we evolve and grow throughout this reshaping effort,
this will be probably much more involvement on the policy side.
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick. How much control and execution
control does she have?
Mr. Pool. Congressman, I am not sure I understand the
question.
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick. Well, how much control,
operational control over the execution does the CISO have,
since that person is going to be held accountable. How much
control will they have?
Mr. Pool. Congresswoman, I would say quite a bit of
control, I mean this is an environment where we welcome
feedback from all areas of the organization. Where that is
available to collect and inform our strategy we certainly
maximize the opportunity to collect that so----
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick. Why is the CISO not here today?
Mr. Pool. Congresswoman, I cannot really speak to that. I
know that operationally most of the components for our
reshaping are being aligned more toward the technical
operations side of the organization like moving security
functions where the next to the operations they support and.
Most of that is under Mr. Jack Galvin to my left.
I thought given the organizational direction we were going
I thought given the organizational direction we go in it would
probably be better to have Mr. Galvin here to speak to some of
those issues.
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick. I only have a second left, I just
want to say that I do have some deep concerns that we will be
holding this person accountable and they are not here to
actually talk about the level of control they and what they
have been--how they have been participating.
Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you.
I recognize myself for 5 minutes again. Mr. Galvin, I want
to make sure we get your parking validated for your
participation today so I have got to ask you a question. OIT
has gone through reorganizations in the past, can you tell me
what is different about this current reorganization and what
lessons learned we have had that we can apply to this process
that we are in now.
Mr. Galvin. Sure, thanks for that question, chair. You
know, I think the big game changer for this one is the singular
focus that the administration has put on standardization and
priority on veteran outcomes. You know, when you had your
hearing on the software asset management for instance, you
know. We are having conversations now that it is on the how not
the why.
We are all in sync with what our priorities are. Saving
duplication, enabling functions for software for instance that
do not duplicate but solve the requirement at hand. I think
that is the big game changer I think or change in this
organizational change and, you know, in the past. Been through
many of them, each one is built upon each other, you know.
I would like to say that principles have staying powers,
there are priorities that change, but principles of operation,
especially in IT, have staying power. We still have the
principle of cybersecurity, the protection of veteran data,
the--you know, performance, service performance, ensuring we
are accountable for system reliability and accountability. I
think to speak to some of the other conversation is there is an
excitement building now to deliver, you know, real outcomes,
you know, Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM)
acceleration.
I mean, we are champing at the bit to show that, you know,
in your area in Michigan we are ready to go. Our four sites in
Michigan are already prepared in terms of their heavy lift IT
infrastructure. We have a complete dashboard that shows every
site in across the VA in terms of their readiness status.
In fact, all 13 sites in the next year in Fiscal Year 2026
are ready in those four key areas of devices, network
infrastructure, wireless, all of that is done already. In fact,
next year we will be working on Fiscal Year 2027, thanks to Dr.
Puetz here in keeping a steady flow of the infrastructure
readiness program and the funding that we have for technical
debt.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you, I appreciate that. I understood
some of what you said so that was helpful.
The--to me if feels like in the past some of what we were
doing with technology was like layering on, stacking up instead
of replacing the systems with one another, we were kind of
adding to and layering up and up and up and next thing you know
we have got so many systems, it is not as many unique users
using each one of them, but nobody wants to give up the legacy
model of whatever they had that they were used to using instead
of kind of learning along the way and upgrading into what they
were, you know, more familiar with.
I remember when, what was it, one of the legacy windows
versions finally stopped being supported and people were
struggling to, you know, move up to whatever the next of newer
generation of that was.
Sometimes that is necessary and I feel like with technology
we cannot move at the pace of the slowest participant. We have
to move at the pace that is necessary to move the organization
along. I think that having that in mind is important.
I have heard the Secretary speak a number of times at some
of his observations and how when he walked in the door on his
first day he could not even know how many people were in the
department and where they were all assigned because he had
different payroll systems and different human resources
management systems and all these other things that are not--
again, delivering care and benefits to veterans, they are
simply the--running the system itself.
They are kind of a drag, if you will, on the efficiency of
the overall system if we have duplicative processes and more
than on system in place doing the same thing or this, you know,
part of the department over here is using this thing, but this
department is using that. They do the same or they have the
same purpose, but they are now duplicative in nature and then
you have got to have IT resources designed to cover both of
those, when instead you could have one that covers the total
systems.
I think that there is a lot there that can be done better.
I think, I hope that we all recognize that, especially when it
relates to IT.
Dr. Puetz, can you tell us from your perspective how
important is it from a resource allocation perspective to have
an efficiently organized workforce, specifically around these
IT projects so that people kind of know their mission and they
have the sight focus that they need?
Dr. Puetz. Thank you for the question, chairman. When we
talk about resources, people and money, it is only as effective
as we put against the actions that drive outcomes.
It is very important to answer your question that we have
that aligned. Like we talked about in the beginning, it is not
about bigger budgets, it is about smarter budgets.
That is where that alignment occurs. Do you have the
traceability from the dollars that were requested through the
activities that they were invested in to ultimately what is
produced for the veteran at the end of the day.
It is about setting controls, working with Inspector
General (IG) to have controlled environment, to make sure that
the plan is impacted as placed by the Department.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you. I appreciate that. I am out of time
on this round of questions. I will yield to Ranking Member
Budzinski for 5 minutes.
Ms. Budzinski. I would just like to say, you know, I hear
you when you say this about smarter, not bigger. Part of today
is not--anybody is talking about bigger, we are talking about
bigger cuts, cuts that are actually happening and what that is
going to mean for what the mission is for OIT, that is more
of--that is my concern.
I do want to go back to this question about staffing and
the lower levels of staffing through the DRP, the VERA and then
natural attrition.
Mr. Pool, if I could ask you IT staffing looks now lower
than what is budgeted for Fiscal Year 2026. Will OIT now need
to rehire staff after essentially paying employees to leave?
Mr. Pool. Thank you, Congresswoman, for the question. Yes,
we will likely need to continue to hire folks, just as we will
in perpetuity. It is a cyclical thing you have got people
coming in and going out and different life cycles of the
employment process. Many of the folks that left were again
retirement eligible.
As I mentioned before, 78 percent of those resulted in
retirements. We will continue to recruit. We will bring in new
folks to the workforce. As we do that, we will be focusing
exclusively on mission.
Whereas we might have hired across the board previously we
are going to be looking at prioritizing for the most again
value added opportunities and how we are driving the mission
forward for the Department as we----
Ms. Budzinski. I cannot imagine you could hire new folks. I
mean for those that have left can you imagine having to rehire
any of them because the vacancy itself is too critical, they
left, we have to bring them back. Can you see that happening?
Mr. Pool. Congresswoman no, I would not see that happening.
Again, as we went through this process, we put a lot of rigor
behind how we approved folks that wanted to take advantage of
these opportunities and making sure that we did not create any
operational gaps.
It would be highly unlikely that we would be hiring folks
back. As a contingency, many of them are again available to the
end of year, but I do not anticipate that being a contingency,
we would have to exercise it.
Ms. Budzinski. I should say, like, some of my concern is
coming from the fact that over the last 8 years it seems like
OIT staff--the OIT department has been saying we are way
understaffed and now we have seen a major attrition of
employees over just this last 6 months.
I guess that is part of where my concern is, but the
question I would also have is how are you then prioritizing?
When you are talking about mission and we want everything to be
mission driven of course, but within that mission you are going
to have to make probably with less staff some really hard
decisions on what is prioritized and what it not. Can you walk
me through what that looks like.
Mr. Pool. Yes, certainly. You know, it goes back to the
opportunity here with standardization. You know, previously in
the construct that you referred to, OI and T would be in
position to support maybe five, six, seven, 10 or more similar
type workflows capabilities or systems across the Department
for one set of capability.
As the departments standardize down to a real enterprise
process on how we do business that allows OI and T to in the
come in and really automate an enterprise solution around those
functions. That in itself will be a tremendous efficiency
driver for how we staff the organization.
Then second, as I mentioned previously as well we have a
number of administrative functions that we have grown into the
organization. We have a lot of things that do not--are not pure
IT focus mission that are consuming resources within the
Department.
We are no different than the rest of the organization. We
are going to get back to our core mission which is delivering
IT and where we can get services and functions from other
places in the Department that are not IT related, we will be
pursuing that.
Ms. Budzinski. Can you give me an example of what that
would be?
Mr. Pool. Sure, I will go back to the exam of HR, you know,
we in IT over the previous administration decided to build our
own HR function within the Office of Information Technology.
That consumes 300 plus resources to do that.
At the Department level, we do have an HR department. We
have several HR options within the organization. Again it does
not make a lot of sense financially or otherwise to build that
function in house when we can leverage the Department level
resources for that.
Ms. Budzinski. I appreciate what you are saying about
standardization because this comes up a lot. When we have been
talking about the EHRM, moving that forward standardization
seems to be really important.
I would just kind of point out my bigger concern here is
without enough people power to help the VA actually in OIT
standardized that could set yourself up for failure if you do
not have the people to do the standardization because the VA is
such a unique place and has a lot of challenges as it relates
to standardization so maybe easier said than done.
I will I yield back.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you. I will now recognize myself for 5
minutes again.
Mr. Pool, I wanted to circle back just for a moment on
something the ranking member just asked you. You said there
were 300--under the previous administration there were 300
people in the HR part of the OIT, is that correct, doing HR
functions?
Mr. Pool. Yes, Mr. Chairman, that was an estimate around
300. I believe Ms. Beard has the exact number if you want or we
can take that for the record but roughly 300 resources.
Mr. Barrett. 300 out of 8,200, were doing HR functions that
could have been or would have otherwise been done by the
department as a whole and absorbed into the workflow of the
Department into the I am sure robust HR portfolio of managing
400 and some out thousand people within the Department. Would
you say that is fairly accurate?
Mr. Pool. Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. I mean, again, that
does put it in great perspective, you know. We have 8,200 folks
roughly in OI and T, do we need a 300 person plus organization
to do our own?
We are driving the business to standardize on common
technologies.
Mr. Barrett. Right.
Mr. Pool. We will do the same.
Mr. Barrett. Ms. Beard, do you have anything further on
that?
Ms. Beard. Yes, I do have the number, it is 242. We do have
some additional upcoming attritions through the programs that
are impacting that, but to reinforce the focus about how we can
once again make sure we still get the services we need for OI
and T to meet our veterans needs, but also make sure that we
have the capabilities to achieve that through with the HR
functions.
Mr. Barrett. Sure. Is that roughly 300 or 242 or the number
you gave me, is that included in the roughly 1,100 that you
talked about in, like, deferred retirements, things, that sort?
Mr. Pool. Yes, Mr. Chairman. It is spread across the board.
Again, we did not exempt any positions as part of that from OI
and T perspective for the DRP programs or VERA. That 1,100
consists of multiple different domains in areas within the
organization.
Mr. Barrett. Sure, but hey also those 300 people are not
minimizing or suggesting they do not have a legitimate, you
know, work ethic or anything, but if that job can be done on an
aggregated level, there is not a reduction and benefit for a
veteran or delayed in a claim or anything of that sort that
would result from that job being done by a higher level
department asset.
Mr. Pool. Yes, Mr. Chairman, that is correct. Again, it
is----
Mr. Barrett. Those Chinese cyber attacks are affected by
that? No, you know, no update to the mobile app that I use or
veterans like me use throughout the management of our claim or
interfacing with the VA so--okay.
Mr. Pool. All right.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you. Mr. Pool, VA's budget documents
describe a buy before build strategy. I think that is a good
insight into some of the motivation for how we make this
better, you know, we have to design it from the ground up or
can we take something that is preexisting and kind of, you
know, modify it for our use within the Department. Can you kind
of give me some insight into how that works and what the
motivation behind it was.
Mr. Pool. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Again, thank you for the
question, it is a really good one in terms of how we are
approaching optimizing the organization. The buy versus build
is really driven by the need to look at enterprise standard
tools out there today that can deliver functionality for the
Department. Previously we have invested in building and
building and building.
We have a very large portfolio of products that are custom,
they are built and maintained and we are perpetually stuck and
a lot of those given to the legacy portfolio. When you go out
and buy capability from industry, you can generally get the
enterprise platform that you can consolidate a standard
workflow and process for the Department on and maintain and
keep that system modernized. Again, it is a much better model.
With that comes increased cybersecurity, a lot of other--
efficiencies in terms of just how we maintain those products.
Mr. Barrett. Sure. I appreciate that. I had worked
previously in our State treasurer's office a number of years
ago and we were using legacy systems that were built from the
ground up and we were having a hard time finding servers that
would actually run them any longer. These things were 30 years
old at the time.
That was just one hardship that we were encountering,
whereas if you have a processor or you have a product that is
purchased off the market, it has the robust backbone necessary
to kind of keep it functional and running just as one example
and this necessitates less maintenance over time and people
doing that to be sure.
I am almost out of time so I am going to yield to the
ranking member for 5 minutes for her questions.
Ms. Budzinski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Pool, can you tell me why are millions of dollars being
transferred out of OIT to plus up other parts of the Department
when there are nearly 20 unaddressed, unfunded priorities on
the 1:N list?
Mr. Pool. Thank you, Congresswoman. You know, I cannot
really speak much about what is driving transfers. I can speak
about what we are investing in OI and T in. I will turn it over
to Dr. Puetz, maybe he can provide some more insight for you on
that.
Dr. Puetz. There are two specific things that we need to
address your question, the first is that there is OIT, but we
are driving the larger department and for the needs for
veterans across the entire Department. At the end of day we may
have a 1:N list, but VA also has a 1:N list. Sometimes the
other administrations and staff offices may have a priority
over IT and that is a decision that sits with the Secretary.
The second aspect of that is you asked about the 1:N list
that exists within OIT. It is important to remember that when
we submit that 1:N list it is part of our congressional
justification, that is a point in time. Since that time when
that is submitted, we almost immediately start funding into and
against that list.
That list that you have seen, we have been able to start to
drive down our 1:N list. We look at lists monthly with our end
of month close and where we able to identify savings, we are
able to reinvest in real-time. We do not wait for the end of
the year to come in and then pay our 1:N list, it is happening
in real-time.
Again, with budgets it is point in time. Good organizations
are not just planning for the future, they are moving in real-
time to create it.
Ms. Budzinski. A follow-up question to that because I did
take time to look at the 1:N and, like, the top 5 issues one
was cybersecurity and incident report, the second was data
privacy and security, the third was governance risk and
compliance, you go to fifth it is threat and vulnerability
management. These are all at the very top of the 1:N list.
Those sound very serious to me. What you are saying is that
those have been resolved.
Dr. Puetz. In the opening testimony from Mr. Pool you have
seen that when we were here last year about that time he said
that we are carrying some risk within our cybersecurity and
Incident Response Plan (IRP) and that we will fund against that
to really buy down that risk.
Ms. Budzinski. That is exactly my question, though.
Dr. Puetz. That is exactly----
Ms. Budzinski. Excuse me, excuse me. That is my question,
though, as you have transferred money away. My understanding
though is that if those millions of dollars, you know, the
Fiscal Year 2026 budget request, $434.2 million decrease from
Fiscal Year 2025, that difference alone from what we understand
would basically solved 70 percent of what is on that 1:N list.
Dr. Puetz. Yes, ma'am, that is correct. I can also say that
we have invested over 100 million in our IRP and I just signed
off documentation to put a major investment within our ZTA just
in the last few days. The funding is being redirected to these
key priorities and we are spending down against that risk.
Ms. Budzinski. Okay. Mr. Pool, your testimony highlights a
reinvestment of nearly $200 million from contract
cancellations. Can you provide the committee a full list of
contacts canceled within OIT and where this money is being
reinvested?
Mr. Pool. Thank you, Congressman. Yes, we can take that
back for the record and provide a list as requested.
I would like to just add on the last question, just for
clarity, our 1:N list are a capturing of requirements whether
they be valid requirements or things that they would like to
do. These are outside of our base budget normally.
These are things that we know are unfunded largely, that we
will be able to fund as funding becomes available, you know,
for various reasons. This is how we prioritize those lists.
The ones that you mentioned on top, those are largely ones
that you can normally assume will be funded. It is when you get
further down the list, just the racking and stacking to make
sure that we capture those requirements and then we can invest
in those as we are able to do throughout the fiscal year.
Ms. Budzinski. Just to clarify, so you are saying that with
the 434 million that is being cut from OIT's budget in Fiscal
Year 2026, you are still going to be able to resolve all of
that on the 1:N list?
Mr. Pool. Congresswoman, like I mentioned previously with
the standardization approach to how we are approaching things,
again, the reference to where we may have 20, 30 different
similar capabilities in the environment today, consolidating
down to one enterprise platform, you know, again, the
opportunity from a fiscal perspective is pretty substantial.
Yes, I do believe with the funding that we have, we will be
able to meet the majority of our needs.
Ms. Budzinski. Okay. I have a question about DOGE. Was DOGE
or any of its representatives involved in the contracts that
were canceled?
Mr. Pool. We do not have DOGE employees at VA. I do
understand that there is, being sensitive to ongoing
litigation, that I am aware, is underway. We will have to refer
you to our Office of General Counsel for our follow up on that.
Ms. Budzinski. Okay. I am over time. Sorry about that.
Mr. Barrett. That is okay. We are going to move to closing
statements. I want to recognize you for your closing statement.
Ms. Budzinski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you again to
the witnesses for being here. I hope that both VA and OIT
leadership have heard the concerns that I have raised today. I
am not one for maintaining the status quo, nor throwing money
at issues needlessly. I am not one for maintaining the status
quo.
Again, I do believe in mission-driven work. I appreciated
those comments. Improvements to VA's organizational structure,
processes, and strategies and operational workload can and
should occur.
However, as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on
Jurisdiction of this jurisdiction, I believe that this change
must happen methodically and must be driven by data. VA's IT
foundation will not continue to support the Department's
mission otherwise.
Unfortunately, I have not had heard today anything that
really reassures me here. VA's answers have not indicated that
the reorganization staffing or budgetary decisions will reach
using data or evidence-based strategic thinking.
I am concerned that this was rushed to be finalized before
a new permanent CIO could be confirmed. I would hope that the
Department would delay implementing such drastic changes until
a CIO can be appropriately named, vetted, and confirmed.
Mr. Pool, I hope that we, and your team, can continue our
dialog here and ensure that OIT can find the right balance in
terms of structure and staffing. The work for your employees
perform undergirds much of the work VA performs, and I want
that talent to be recognized, appreciated, and cultivated. I
hope you and whoever is confirmed as the next CIO share that
same desire. Thank you, and I yield back.
Mr. Barrett. Thank you, Ranking Member Budzinski, and thank
you our panelists for being here today. I appreciate your
insight and testimony to helping us drive, you know, good
decision-making within this committee. Thank you.
OIT, it stands hopefully without saying, but it has an
important mission and many competing priorities. We even saw
some of that on display here today. When everything becomes a
priority, nothing then reaches the top of the list, right? We
have to do a job of determining within those priorities what
stands out as our most necessary attention.
I am glad to see that under Secretary Collins leadership,
OIT is reevaluating where they are investing, how they are
utilizing their workforce, what they can do to be a more
efficient organization. No organization, not even the Federal
Government has unlimited resources.
During this hearing, we have discussed several important
steps that OIT is taking as part of its smarter, not bigger
strategy to become a more effective and efficient organization.
Starting fewer large development projects that come with
the risk of ballooning budgets and poor outcomes, reevaluating
the current organizational structure in order to make OIT a
smarter and more resourceful organization, investing in IT
infrastructure, cybersecurity monitoring, and reducing
technical debt to make the VA more resilient.
Some of things, Mr. Pool, that you pointed out about
enterprise-wide, large-scale systems that can be delivered more
efficiently with greater cybersecurity are important to see and
review.
I look forward to working with the OIT witnesses here today
and once Mr. Cote is confirmed to accomplish these goals and
more.
As the chairman of this subcommittee, I will continue to
ensure that OIT has the right priorities, the appropriate
responsibilities, and is organized in a way that best supports
the VA's mission.
I ask unanimous consent that all members have five
legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material. Without objection, that's so ordered. This
hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:06 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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A P P E N D I X
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Prepared Statements of Witnesses
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Prepared Statement of Eddie Pool
Introduction
Chairman Barrett, Ranking Member Budzinski, and distinguished
Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify
on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of
Information and Technology (OIT). I am Eddie Pool, performing the
delegable duties of the Assistant Secretary for Information and
Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO). I am honored to appear
before you today to provide an update on the status of OIT and the
critical work we are doing to deliver secure, modern, and Veteran-
centered information technology (IT) solutions. I am accompanied by my
OIT colleagues, Dr. Timothy Puetz, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy
CIO for IT Budget and Finance; Mr. Jack Galvin, Deputy CIO for End User
Services; and Ms. Devon Beard, Acting Deputy CIO and Chief People
Officer for the Office of People Science.
Let me center my remarks on three core priorities: budget
modernization, workforce reshaping, and cybersecurity posture.
Budget
We are driving a bold and forward-thinking approach to budget
modernization, one that matches the pace of today's technological
landscape. Over the past few months, OIT has undertaken a comprehensive
and rigorous review of our contracts and budget to ensure that every
dollar spent delivers real value to Veterans and their families. During
this process, we were able to reinvest $89 million into the
infrastructure readiness program. Furthermore, we are positioned to
reinvest an additional $100 million. The Improvement and Remediation
Program (IRP) serves as the investment fund dedicated to ensuring all
IT infrastructure such as endpoints, network, and datacenters is both
``Fit for Purpose'' through modernization efforts, and ``Fit for Use''
via technology refresh initiatives. In recent years, the Office of
Information and Technology (OIT) has effectively leveraged the IRP to
address technical debt stemming from aging systems or solutions that no
longer meet current requirements.
Any contract terminations or modifications occurred after OIT
assessed internal capabilities and confirmed that critical work could
continue without disruption. This intentional, mission-first strategy
has strengthened continuity, reduced complexity, and delivered smarter,
more reliable IT capabilities. By intensifying our contract oversight
and forging stronger coordination with our acquisition partners, we are
decisively managing contract changes without compromising service
delivery. This proactive approach not only boosts efficiency but also
enables us to strategically redirect resources to mission-critical
areas and emerging priorities, ensuring we remain agile and focused on
delivering positive outcomes for Veterans.
OIT is vigorously working to eliminate unnecessary expenses while
maintaining operational readiness. These initiatives underscore our
dedication to being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars while
effectively fulfilling our mission. Where necessary, we actively
reassess the use of Government-furnished equipment, cut down on unused
cellular lines, and enforce stricter eligibility criteria to guarantee
that resources are allocated solely to essential personnel.
We are also requesting changes to the appropriations language to
allow VA to eliminate rigid statutory subaccounts and authorize a 3-
year period of availability for IT funds. Granting a 3-year funding
cycle will allow us to plan and execute across longer horizons, respond
more effectively to real-time needs, and align investments with
outcomes. These adjustments promote disciplined, results-driven
investment while minimizing procurement risk and operational delays.
Furthermore, we have implemented rigorous internal controls including
quarterly reporting and CIO risk ratings to ensure accountability
remains central.
Workforce
OIT is committed to deploying staff resources in the most effective
and efficient way to better serve our Veteran community. OIT is
actively engaged in workforce reshaping to ensure we assign resources
to critical positions to meet the Department's mission.
We are decisively aligning every staff resource to achieve Veteran-
facing outcomes. Recently, we participated in the Office of Personnel
Management and VA Deferred Resignation Program/Voluntary Early
Retirement Authority. Among those who voluntarily participated, 78
percent opted for retirement, with over 53 percent being Veterans who
entered early retirement. This grants a unique ability to reallocate
human capital to meet emerging mission needs, particularly in areas
like cybersecurity and AI, thereby delivering better outcomes for
Veterans. We are taking bold steps to reshape our workforce structure
from nine service lines to three: Technical Operations, Product
Delivery, and the Office of the Chief of Staff. This strategic
realignment is designed to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy,
accelerate decision-making, and sharpen our focus on delivering
innovative, impactful IT services that directly support Veterans.
To build a robust workforce, OIT is prioritizing and reallocating
staff to bolster essential functions. We are aligning our onboarding
efforts with mission delivery to ensure we possess the technical
capacity required to meet the Department's future needs. Our approach
effectively balances immediate operational demands with long-term
workforce planning, ensuring both continuity and readiness in all our
endeavors.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a complex and constantly evolving threat. We are
shifting our strategy toward dynamic, threat-informed defenses
prioritizing proactive risk mitigation over reactive compliance. This
is not just about meeting checkboxes anymore; it is about anticipating
threats and acting before they happen. Federal Information Security
Management Act/Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual audits
must reflect the complexity of VA's digital infrastructure and the
sophistication of adversaries we face. Our shift embraces dynamic,
threat-informed defenses and promotes proactive mitigation over
retrospective correction.
OIT is promoting Zero Trust by fostering a security-first mindset
across the Department and by prioritizing the protection of critical
information and resources. Zero Trust is a security model and framework
that operates on the principle that no user, device, or application
should be trusted by default, regardless of whether they are inside or
outside an organization's network. Instead, every access request must
be continuously authenticated, authorized, and validated before
granting access to resources.
This approach involves rigorous identity verification, continuous
monitoring, and strict access controls to ensure only authorized users
interact with sensitive systems, such as those managing electronic
health records that contain personally identifiable information and
personal health information. This robust Zero Trust implementation
delivers a seamless, secure experience for Veterans in an increasingly
interconnected and threat-contested digital environment, while
protecting patient safety, ensuring regulatory compliance, and
maintaining the public's trust in VA.
It is essential that the Department continues investing in modern
cybersecurity tools, skilled personnel, and robust processes. VA's
systems hold the personal information and health records of millions of
Veterans, and we must protect these systems with the utmost seriousness
and commitment they deserve.
Conclusion
In conclusion, every change we are implementing, whether it is
enhancing accountability, transforming the workforce, or advancing
cybersecurity, is firmly rooted in a singular mission: to deliver
unparalleled service to our Veterans. We are not merely modernizing
systems; we are constructing a future-ready VA where platforms are
secure, teams are empowered, and every dollar generates a significant
impact.
I am eager to address your questions and collaborate with you to
develop an IT enterprise that truly honors those who have served. Thank
you.
Prepared Statement of Carol Harris
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