Appropriations feud after VA notifies Congress of transfers to community care
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Summary
House appropriators pressed Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Collins over notifications the department sent in April indicating transfers of unobligated funds to VA community care. Committee members said the moves required formal reprogramming requests under the Appropriations Act; VA said it provided notice and followed OMB guidance.
House appropriators and the Department of Veterans Affairs tussled over the legality and transparency of transfers of unobligated VA funds to the department’s community care account.
The dispute came during Secretary Collins’s appearance before the House Appropriations subcommittee on the VA budget when members said they received only a notification — not a formal reprogramming request — after the department announced it would move money into community care. "You are required to send us a reprogramming request, not a notification," Ranking Member Wasserman Schultz said during questioning.
The ranking member and other appropriators cited provisions of the annual Appropriations Act that, they said, require committee approval before agencies move funding between accounts. Committee members repeatedly requested a commitment from the secretary that the department would submit reprogramming requests for transfers that require congressional approval.
Secretary Collins said the department sent a notice on April 24 and, following Office of Management and Budget guidance, moved funds intended to support community care. He described the transfers as part of broader reform efforts and said the department notified the committee of its intent to transfer roughly $343,000,000 to support VA community care.
Appropriations members said notification is not sufficient under the law. “I encourage you to look at sections 227, 2209, 230, and 231,” Wasserman Schultz said, citing provisions in the Appropriations Act that she said lay out reprogramming and transfer requirements. The committee pressed Collins for a firm commitment to submit reprogramming requests in the future and to provide the documentation appropriators said they have asked for but not received.
The disagreement left the committee signaling it will pursue the matter aggressively. Chairman Cole and others said they expected closer coordination going forward; Collins said his team would work with the committee and OMB on notifications and any required actions.
What happens next: committee members asked for follow-up documentation and for the VA to submit formal reprogramming requests when required. The committee emphasized it will exercise statutory oversight authority if it does not receive the requested paperwork.
