VA committee votes to subpoena Oracle executives over cost overruns in health records update

WASHINGTON — The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to subpoena Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison and Chief Executive Officer Mike Sicilia to testify about skyrocketing costs and years of delays to deliver a multibillion-dollar project for modernizing the Department of Veterans Affairs’ electronic health records system.

Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., led the effort late Wednesday to issue subpoenas to Oracle’s top executives amid concerns over a newly modified contract with the tech company that extends its contract and increases the project’s cost ceiling to $27 billion.

“When the vendor responsible for a taxpayer-funded contract going from $10 billion to roughly $27 billion will not sit at this table and answer our questions, all of us are being prevented from doing our oversight duties,” Dexter said.

Oracle leaders initially agreed to testify at the hearing but later backed out, said Rep. Mark Takano, of California, the top Democrat on the committee.

“Oracle accepted the invitation on Aug. 26 ... but on Aug. 27, they reneged on that acceptance, citing timing constraints and the two-panel structure,” Takano said, adding that he complained directly to the tech giant about the planned absence.

“Why does Oracle need $17 billion more to get this work done?” Takano said.

“Why does Oracle need $17 billion more dollars to get this work done?” Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., asked during a hearing Sept. 2, 2026, in reference to a project by the tech giant to modernize the digital health records systems at VA hospitals and clinics. (Screenshot)

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., the committee chairman, said Oracle could not attend because of a scheduling conflict.

“Oversight of this issue will continue. This is not a check-the-box activity,” Bost said.

The House VA committee had scheduled the hearing — titled “Beyond Go-Live: VA Electronic Health Record Modernization Status Update” — for a progress report on the long-running project, initiated in 2018.

The hearing came less than a month after the VA published a formal award notice for modifying the scope of its contract with Oracle Health Government Services.

In the notice, the VA’s Office of Technology Acquisition outlined the award, valued at $16.9 billion. The award date was Aug. 18.

The modification represented an addition to Oracle’s current $10 billion contract for modernizing the electronic health records systems at 164 facilities, lawmakers said.

Lawmakers on Wednesday said that the changes were unexpected.

“This has been the biggest boondoggle I’ve seen,” Bost said. “The frustration we feel is beyond measure.”

Bost noted in opening remarks that the new health records platform has been deployed across 11 hospitals and associated clinics.

But he emphasized that there needs to be greater transparency over progress and future costs.

“We need a clear picture about where this project stands. It is well known that I have been skeptical of the deployment of this system from the very beginning,” Bost said. “Past deployments were filled with cost overruns and patient safety issues.”

Paul Lawrence, VA deputy secretary, and Neil Evans, director at a VA office focused on modernizing the health record system, testify at a hearing of the House VA committee on Sept. 2, 2026. (Screenshot)

Paul Lawrence, VA deputy secretary, said that the updates are being rolled out at multiple facilities after the project stalled in 2023 because of technical glitches.

The VA in April “achieved its largest single-wave deployment to date,” activating the new system at four hospitals in Michigan — Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit and Saginaw — along with affiliated VA community clinics, he said.

Lawrence said that the VA has a “no-fail mission” to deliver the updated electronic health records system to every VA medical center by 2031.

The higher spending ceiling was necessary because the VA is about to hit the cost limit defined in its contract, Lawrence said.

The VA in 2018 issued a 10-year contract with Cerner to modernize its digital health records system. Oracle acquired Cerner in 2022.

“For years we have been asking legitimate questions about the full life cycle costs of this program and have still not received answers,” Bost said. “Veterans and taxpayers deserve to know why costs are rising faster than planned.”

A representative from the Government Accountability Office underscored those concerns.

Carol Harris, director of information technology and cybersecurity at the GAO, recommended that the VA develop more comprehensive projections for completing the project.

The GAO published a report this week on the project.

“In March 2025, we reported that the many changes undertaken by VA to pause deployments and make improvements impacted the program’s total life cycle cost estimate and integrated master schedule,” Harris said in a statement to the committee.

After the hearing, committee Democrats issued a written statement that blamed their Republican counterparts for not having a better handle on the project’s delays and costs.