Nikki Budzinski Grills VA Official On 'Unaddressed, Unfunded' Priorities In Spite Of Money Transfers

4 months ago

During a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) asked Deputy Chief Information Officer for IT Budget & Finance and Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs Dr. Timoth Puetz about funding transfers at the department.

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00:00her questions. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Poole, can you tell me why are millions of

00:05dollars being transferred out of OIT to plus up other parts of the department when there are

00:10nearly 20 unaddressed, unfunded priorities on the one-to-end list? Thank you, Congresswoman.

00:18You know, I can't really speak much about what's driving transfers. I can speak about what we're

00:25investing in OIT in. I'll turn it over to Dr. Pitts. Maybe he can provide some more insight for you on

00:32that. There's two specific things that we need to address to your question. The first is that there

00:42is OIT, but we're driving the larger department and for the needs for veterans across the entire

00:49department. So at the end of the day, we may have a one-to-end list, but VA also has a one-to-end

00:55list. And sometimes the other administrations and staff offices may have a priority above

01:00IT. And that is a decision that sits with the secretary. The second aspect of that is you

01:07asked about the one-to-end list that exists within OIT. It's important to remember that

01:12when we submit that one-to-end list as part of our congressional justification, that is a

01:17point in time. And since that time when that is submitted, we almost immediately start funding

01:24into and against that list. So that list that you've seen, we've been able to start to drive

01:30down our one-to-end list. We look at this monthly with our end-of-month close and where we are

01:37able to identify savings, we're able to reinvest in real time. So we don't wait for the end of the

01:43year to come and then pay down our one-to-end list. It's happening in real time. So again, with budgets,

01:48it's point in time. And good organizations aren't just planning for the future. They're moving in

01:55real time to create it. So a follow-up question to that, because I did take time to look at the

02:01one-to-end list and like the top five issues. One was cybersecurity and incident report. The second

02:07was data privacy and security. The third was governance risk and compliance. You go to fifth,

02:13it's threat and vulnerability management. These are all at the very top of the one-to-end list.

02:19And those sound very serious to me. So what you're saying is that those have been resolved?

02:24So in the opening testimony from Mr. Poole, you've seen that when we were here last year about this

02:30time, we said that we are carrying some risk within our cybersecurity and IRP, and that we will

02:38fund against that to really buy down that risk. So that's exactly my question. Excuse me. Excuse me.

02:47So that's my question, though, is you've transferred money away. My understanding, though, is that if

02:53you, if those millions of dollars, you know, the fiscal year 2026 budget requests $434.2 million

03:00decrease from fiscal year 2025, that difference alone, from what we understand, would basically

03:09solve 70% of what's on that one-to-end list. Yes, ma'am, that is correct. I can also say that we have

03:17invested over $100 million in our IRP, and I just signed off documentation to put a major investment

03:25within our ZTA just in the last few days. So the funding is being redirected to these key

03:33priorities, and we're spending down against that risk. Okay. Mr. Poole, your testimony highlights

03:41a reinvestment of nearly $200 million from contract cancellations. Can you provide the committee a full

03:47list of contracts canceled within OIT and where this money is being reinvested?

03:52Thank you, Congressman. Yes, we can take that back for the record and provide a list as requested.

04:01I would like to just add on the last question, just for clarity. You know, our one-to-end list

04:07are a capturing of requirements, whether they be valid requirements or things that we'd like to do.

04:13These are outside of our base budget normally. These are things that we know are unfunded,

04:17largely, that we will be able to fund as funding becomes available for various reasons. This is how

04:27we prioritize those lists. So the ones that you mentioned on top, those are largely ones that you

04:32can normally assume will be funded. It's when you get further down the list, it's just a racking and

04:36stacking to make sure that we capture those requirements, and then we can invest in those as

04:41we're able to do throughout the fiscal year. Just to clarify, you're saying that with the $434 million

04:48that's being cut from OIT's budget in fiscal year 2026, you're still going to be able to resolve all

04:54of that on the one-to-end list? Congressman, like I mentioned previously with the standardization

05:00approach to how we're approaching things, again, the reference to where we may have 20,

05:0530 different similar capabilities in the environment today. Consolidating down to one

05:10enterprise platform, again, the opportunity from a fiscal perspective is pretty substantial. So yes,

05:16I do believe with the funding that we have, we will be able to meet the majority of our needs.

05:21Okay. I have a question about DOGE. Was DOGE or any of its representatives involved in the contracts

05:28that were canceled? So we don't have DOGE employees at VA, and I do understand that there is being

05:39sensitive to ongoing litigation that I'm aware is underway. We'll have to refer you to our Office

05:46of General Counsel for a follow-up on that. Okay. I'm over time. Sorry about that. That's okay.

05:53We're going to move to closing statements. I want to recognize you for your closing statement.

06:11Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you again to the witnesses for being here. I hope that both VA and

06:16OIT leadership have heard the concerns that I've raised today. I'm not, I'm not one for maintaining

06:23the status quo, nor throwing money at issues needlessly. I am not one for maintaining the

06:29status quo. And again, I, I do believe in mission-driven work. So I appreciated those comments.

06:35Improvements to VA's organizational structure, processes, and strategies, and operational workload

06:41can and should occur. However, as the ranking member of the subcommittee on jurisdiction of this

06:47jurisdiction, I believe that this change must happen methodically and must be driven by data.

06:53VA's IT foundation will not continue to support the department's mission otherwise. Unfortunately,

06:59I have not heard today anything that really reassures me here. VA's answers have not indicated that the

07:05reorganization, staffing, or budgetary decisions were reached using data or evidence-based strategic

07:11thinking. I'm concerned that this was rushed to be finalized before a new permanent CIO could be

07:16confirmed. I would hope that the department could, would delay implement, implementing such drastic

07:22changes until a CIO can be appropriately named, vetted, and confirmed. Mr. Rappool, I hope that

07:29we and your team can continue our dialogue here and ensure that OIT can find the right balance in terms

07:35of structure and staffing. The work for your employees perform undergirds much of the work VA performs,

07:41and I want that talent to be recognized, appreciated, and cultivated. I hope you and whoever is confirmed

07:48as the next CIO share that same desire. Thank you and I yield back.

07:52Thank you, Ranking Member Brzezinski, and thank you to our panelists for being here.

Nikki Budzinski Grills VA Official On 'Unaddressed, Unfunded' Priorities In Spite Of Money Transfers

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