Key facts
- A House committee issued subpoenas for Oracle founder Larry Ellison and CEO Mike Sicilia.
- The subpoenas demand details on the costs and progress of the electronic health records project for veterans.
- The project, initiated during Trump's first term, has been deployed at fewer than 20 sites in eight years.
- VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence stated confidence the project will stay within its $27 billion ceiling.
- Government Accountability Office officials reported they do not yet have a full life cycle cost estimate.
A House committee has issued subpoenas for Oracle founder Larry Ellison and CEO Mike Sicilia to testify regarding the troubled electronic health records project for veterans. The committee expressed significant frustration over the project's escalating costs and slow progress.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.) described the initiative as the "biggest boondoggle that I’ve ever seen in government." Oracle officials declined to attend a recent hearing, prompting committee leaders to pursue subpoenas. Committee Chair Mike Bost (R-Ill.) stated he had been working to secure voluntary testimony but was frustrated by delays.
The electronic records platform has been deployed at fewer than 20 sites over the past eight years, with most of these deployments occurring recently after VA Secretary Doug Collins pledged to accelerate the program. VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence assured lawmakers that the effort would not exceed the new $27 billion ceiling, even with hundreds of additional medical center deployments planned over the next five years. However, officials from the Government Accountability Office indicated they still lack a complete life cycle cost estimate for the project.