Budzinski Convenes First Hearing as Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member of Technology Modernization Subcommittee
WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) helped lead the first hearing as Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization. The hearing focused on the ongoing implementation of the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program and the VA’s coordination with Oracle.
Budzinski urged the VA and Oracle to work together to implement more disciplined project management protocols, bolster staff training modules, and set benchmarks to meet launch deadlines to ensure that the EHRM project accomplishes its goal of improving quality of care for veterans. She also raised concerns regarding the firing of VA employees by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and the impact these actions will have on the VA’s ability to bring these projects online in a manner that can effectively serve our veterans.
As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, Rep. Budzinski is focused on streamlining outdated processes and bringing state-of-the-art technology online that will improve care for veterans. Most recently, she worked with Chairman Barrett to introduce the bipartisan Clear Communication for Veterans Claims Act. The bill would make it easier for veterans to access their earned benefits by requiring the VA to eliminate overcomplicated language from written communications with veterans.
Budzinski’s opening remarks as prepared for delivery can be found below:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and congratulations on being selected Chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization. I look forward to working with you this Congress to ensure that veterans and VA employees have access to state-of-the-art technology that supports the delivery of healthcare and benefits veterans have earned.
I also want to thank our witnesses for being here today to discuss the future of the EHRM project and for coming in a couple of weeks ago to help us get up to speed.
We had a robust conversation about the history and current status of this project, and I look forward to working with all of you to support the progress that has been made to ensure that EHRM moves forward in a safe and smart way.
In the almost two years since VA announced its “Reset” of the EHRM program, we have worked in a bipartisan and bicameral way, with VA and Oracle, to move the needle on this project.
In December, VA announced its intention to resume go-live activities, with the first deployment happening mid-2026. I want to take this time to outline some of my concerns about the lack of progress being made by both VA and Oracle on a series of issues that ultimately impact veteran health and safety.
Last month, VA briefed my staff that there were still dozens of outstanding recommendations from the VA’s Office of the Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office – recommendations that VA acknowledged it needs to fix and yet has made little, if any, progress on.
It seems to me that these recommendations need to be addressed before any other go-lives are allowed to occur. I hope to hear from VA about how it intends to address these open issues before its planned resumption of go-lives next summer.
I’m also concerned about the roll-out of the 3B bidirectional interface intended to fix major issues with how Oracle supports VA’s pharmacy operations. I understand that 3B was deployed this weekend, but it sounds like it’s suffering some of the same issues the system did during its initial go-lives: The training is substandard and behind schedule, and staff are concerned that the solutions won’t meet their needs.
The 3B solution was meant to solve problems that were identified at Mann-Grandstaff, the first site to go-live, in 2020. Yet, here we are over 4 years later, and I’m concerned that it’s still fully ready. The lack of these fixes has caused VA pharmacy to hire additional people and use onerous workarounds to accomplish the same tasks they did in VistA. These fixes are desperately needed, but they need to be right. We cannot afford any more half-measures.
Also, I have major concerns about how the recent reduction in force actions at the Department are going to impact VA’s ability to move this project forward. I know that Secretary Collins says these actions will not impact veterans’ access to healthcare or benefits, but I don’t see how cuts to a historically understaffed VA don’t impact veterans.
I have questions about how many people in the EHRM Integration Office were terminated under the probationary employee purge; how many opted to take the “fork-in-the-road;” and how many others may have been purged through other methods. I also have questions about how the hiring freeze is impacting EHRM. I expect that VA has a plan to compensate for these vacancies in this crucial program, and I need to hear about that plan today.
My biggest concern as we continue overseeing the EHRM program is ensuring that veterans’ health and safety remain the top priority throughout its implementation. However, VA’s track record has not always aligned with this commitment, often prioritizing speed over thoughtful execution:
We cannot allow VA to rush into the resumption of go-live activities using the same old playbook they’ve used up until this point. The Department must focus on improving their protocols, training, and efficiency on the front-end, before hastily implementing another go-live.
The focus should be on improving training for VA staff to ensure they have the tools and skills to be able to use the software most efficiently.
The focus should be on establishing a structured project management timeline with benchmarks and deadlines that must be met to push the project to the next step and, eventually, go live.
The focus should be on implementing a system that maximizes efficiency within the VA and allows providers to have seamless communication with other elements of the care delivery system.
We owe it to veterans and VA employees to ensure that they have the resources and technology they need for high-quality, safe, and effective care.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
###