Billions of dollars, dozens of hearings, three administrations and no answers. On the VA’s fourth attempt to modernize electronic health records, Congress says “enough.”
Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence testifies before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on electronic health record modernization on Sept. 2, 2026. (K. Sophie Will/Scoop News Group photo)
Across the aisle, lawmakers expressed outrage over the recent contract ceiling hike after Oracle’s CEO told Congress four years ago that the company would not raise costs.
Due to “unanticipated complexities,” the department proposed a modification to the $10 billion contract to complete deployment of the electronic health record modernization.
Scenes from outside the Office of Personnel Management in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 2019. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
A report found two years of missing measures and undefined fiscal 2026 goals for the health records’ interagency cybersecurity and privacy protections.
President Donald Trump is pictured during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 17, 2025. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 9: Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., left, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., conduct a news conference at the Republican National Committee after a meeting of the House Republican Conference on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
