House Veterans Affairs subcommittee presses VA on OIT reorganization, FY26 cuts and cybersecurity plans

WASHINGTON — The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs subcommittee examined the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Information and Technology (OIT) on its planned reorganization, workforce reductions, and FY 2026 information-technology budget during a hearing called by Chairman Barrett.

"Nothing in the VA functions without technology," Chairman Barrett said in opening remarks, framing the hearing around OIT's role in delivering benefits and health care services.

Members pressed OIT leaders and a Government Accountability Office witness on the department's FY 2026 IT request, workforce changes, and cybersecurity work. Carol Harris, director of IT and cybersecurity at the GAO, told the panel that VA has requested $7,300,000,000 for IT in FY 2026, an almost $300,000,000 decrease from FY 2025, and that the request proposes funding for about 7,000 full-time equivalents — a drop GAO described as roughly an 11.7% reduction from the prior year. "We have reported on VA's challenges with managing a myriad of major IT acquisitions and operations," Harris said.

The hearing centered on three recurring OIT themes: budget optimization, workforce reshaping, and cybersecurity.

OIT officials described reinvestments and reorganizational steps. Eddie Poole, performing the duties of assistant secretary for OIT and VA chief information officer, said OIT has "conducted an exhaustive review of our budgets resulting in the immediate reinvestment of $89,000,000 into infrastructure readiness programs with an additional 100,000,000 poised for strategic reinvestment." He said the office is consolidating digital services into a single platform that supports more than 16,000,000 monthly unique users and about 3,000,000 mobile-app downloads.

On workforce changes, panelists discussed voluntary separation programs and their effect on institutional knowledge. Devin Beard, acting deputy CIO for people science and chief people officer, said, "our total participation in the programs is 1,172 as of today." OIT said 78 percent of voluntary departures through those programs were retirements. Poole and Beard told the committee that the departures were evaluated to prevent operational gaps and that some reductions are concentrated in back-office and administrative support functions. Beard provided a head-count figure for one administrative function, saying 242 OIT positions previously performed HR functions that OIT now plans to absorb into centralized department HR services.

Members repeatedly asked for specifics and documentation. Chairman Barrett and multiple members pressed OIT to provide lists of employees who participated in early-retirement programs and of canceled contracts; Poole agreed to provide such information for the record.

GAO witnesses and several members warned that workforce and budget decisions need evidence-based workforce planning. Harris said GAO had earlier found OIT's strategic workforce plan to be incomplete, lacking an inventory of current workforce skills and competencies, and that GAO has 26 open recommendations related to VA IT and cybersecurity that the department should address.

Cybersecurity and modernization strategy were prominent in the discussion. Poole described a shift "from compliance based check boxes to dynamic threat informed defenses" and said OIT is implementing a zero-trust architecture enterprisewide. Committee members asked how those cybersecurity investments and the reduction in the FY 2026 request would affect the office's ability to reduce technical debt and address items on OIT's "to-end" list. Poole said OIT is prioritizing enterprise standardization and consolidation to reduce duplication and free funding for higher-priority cybersecurity and infrastructure work.

On procurement strategy, OIT described a preference for enterprise "buy before build" solutions to replace custom, legacy systems for cost and maintenance reasons. Tim Pitts, deputy CIO for IT budget and finance, said the approach is intended to produce more maintainable systems and reduce the portfolio of bespoke applications that become technical debt.

Members expressed concern that staffing changes could hamper the office's ability to carry out standardization and modernization work. Ranking Member Budzinski said she was "extremely concerned that this foundation is at risk" and urged more data-driven planning before significant personnel or budget changes. Poole said OIT would continue to hire for mission-critical roles and prioritize mission-facing capabilities.

The committee did not take formal votes during the hearing. Several members asked for follow-up materials, including lists of DRP/VERA participants and canceled contracts and details about how OIT will ensure continuity of services for veterans during its reorganization.

The hearing record includes testimony from OIT officials and GAO and a commitment from OIT to provide more detailed documentation to the subcommittee.

Looking ahead, OIT leaders said they expect to continue hiring and to direct savings from consolidation and canceled contracts into cybersecurity, infrastructure readiness, and platform consolidation efforts. GAO emphasized that successful reform will require better workforce planning and closing open recommendations before the department moves further into large-scale changes.