The VA: The Civilian Agency with the Most Procurement Dollars at Stake – and a Fraud Problem
In earlier Fraud by the Numbers, we have reviewed the U.S. Government’s own procurement data, to examine how taxpayer dollars are allocated across agencies and procurement priorities. After all, it’s the government money flowing to these agencies that attracts fraud.
Using the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) annual snapshot, we have analyzed:
– Drug Procurement (reporting on FY 2021)
– Defense Procurement (reporting on FY 2022)
– IT/Software Support Procurement (reporting on FY 2023)
This year, we go back to the GAO’s yearly snapshot to evaluate a few numbers in the $755 billion in committed contracts for Fiscal Year 2024.
First, the Department of Defense was again responsible for a majority of the government’s committed procurement contracts. However, despite well-documented evidence of fraud, False Claims Act cases involving defense contracts lag significantly behind fraud enforcement in other sectors.
Second, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ranks as the civilian agency with the most committed contracts, weighing in at $66.9 billion.
Source: A Snapshot: Government-Wide Contracting
While healthcare and drugs rank high on the services and products offered by the VA, the VA also provides important benefits to our veterans, including vocational services, support for Veteran-owned small businesses, disability compensation, pensions, college and training programs, housing assistance, burials and survivor and dependent benefits.
In July 2025, the VA’s Office of Inspector General’s (VAOIG) issued a report, VAOIG-25-00170-115, as part of its mission to “serve veterans and the public by conducting meaningful independent oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs.” VAOIG audited 20 VA contracts for compliance and found a majority of them (11/20) involved overcharging. At least two cases (20%) involved False Claims Act violations that led to about $13,418,977 recovered on behalf of the government. VA OIG 25-00170-115 at 5.
Findings from the VAOIG on just 20 contracts hint at a much larger problem: nearly $67 billion in VA contracts is vulnerable to fraud. We honor veterans when we thank them for their service, but we can also honor them by protecting the taxpayer funds allocated to support them after their service – ensuring that money reaches them, not fraudsters. Whistleblowers play a vital role in that effort, exposing fraud in VA contracts and discouraging future fraud before it happens.
This piece was written by Kate Scanlan, with Keller Grover.
