There is a rule every service member learns early.
You account for your people. You account for your equipment. You account for the mission.
And when the numbers are wrong, you do not salute the mistake and move on.
You correct it.
That is why the September 22, 2026 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General should get the attention of every veteran, every member of Congress, and every taxpayer in this country.
The Inspector General examined the VA’s 2025 contract cancellation effort.
The findings are unacceptable.
VA reviewed 2,210 contract actions.
Ultimately, only 435 were terminated for convenience, representing approximately $1.1 billion in total contract value.
Others were retained.
Others were reinstated.
Others were never terminated at all.
Yet the information presented during this process did not accurately reflect what actually happened. The OIG confirmed that VA submitted inaccurate information to Congress during the process.
That is not just bad paperwork.
That is a command and accountability failure.
CONGRESS WAS GIVEN INACCURATE INFORMATION
Let us dispense with the bureaucratic language.
Congress received bad information.
The Inspector General found that lists submitted by VA in May and July 2025 were incomplete and inaccurate.
One contract was reported at more than $21 billion when its estimated total value was actually just over $74 million.
Sixteen contract actions were reported at values of $1 billion or more even though the OIG found that none of those 16 actually exceeded $150 million.
That is not a rounding error.
That is not close enough for government work.
That is a breakdown in basic accountability.
The audit also found that more than 1,100 contracts counted among reported cancellations had actually reached the normal end of their performance periods.
There were inconsistencies in the lists.
There were duplicate contract actions.
There was confusion caused by termination instructions coming from multiple sources.
About 100 contracts were initially terminated and later reinstated.
When that many actions have to be reversed, veterans have every right to ask whether some of those cancellations were premature or pushed through before their consequences were fully understood.
SOME REVIEWS WERE NOT EVEN FINISHED
This is the part that should concern every veteran.
According to the Inspector General’s findings reported, some VA officials were given two weeks to complete their reviews while others were given only a few hours to review hundreds of contracts.
Some offices had not completed their reviews when VA senior advisers and Department of Government Efficiency representatives directed them to proceed with terminations on February 25, 2025.
That is a dangerous way to manage anything connected to veteran care, benefits, support systems, or taxpayer dollars.
In a military environment, that kind of execution would immediately raise questions up the chain of command.
What was terminated?
Who signed off?
What operational impact had been assessed?
What was missed because the review was rushed?
Why were some contracts later reinstated?
If the review was incomplete and the order moved forward anyway, then in my opinion, that is more than sloppy administration.
That is reckless management.
WERE VETERAN SERVICES PUT AT RISK?
The Inspector General did find that VA established procedures intended to identify potential effects on veteran care and benefits and that those procedures reduced the risk of terminating critical services. The OIG also found VA generally complied with applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements.
Those facts matter.
But reduced risk is not the same thing as no risk.
When contracts are being reviewed under extreme time pressure, when some reviews remain unfinished, and when some actions are later reversed, veterans are justified in asking whether veteran related services were put at unnecessary risk.
The OIG did not conclude that widespread veteran services were improperly terminated.
But the process it documented was flawed enough that veterans deserve to know which services were affected, which contracts were restored, why they were restored, and whether any veteran experienced a disruption because Washington moved too fast.
The government does not get to experiment with veterans and call it efficiency.
SAVINGS MUST BE REAL
Veterans for America First supports cutting waste.
If a contract is useless, cut it.
If a program is duplicative, eliminate it.
If taxpayer money is being burned on bureaucracy instead of serving veterans, shut it down and move the resources where they belong.
But do not announce victory before you know what actually happened.
A contract’s total value is not automatically the amount of money saved.
Some funds may already have been spent.
Some may already have been obligated.
Some services may still have to be provided elsewhere.
When VA tells Congress and the American people that money has been saved and redirected, those numbers must be accurate, documented, and defensible.
Dollar for dollar.
Contract for contract.
Mission for mission.
Anything less is unacceptable.
THIS WOULD NOT PASS MUSTER IN THE MILITARY
Imagine standing in front of your commanding officer and explaining that the inventory report was wrong.
The equipment totals were wrong.
The disposition records were wrong.
Items listed as removed were actually still there.
Others had already reached the end of their normal service period.
Some were removed and then brought back.
And the report sent up the chain did not match reality.
Nobody in uniform would call that successful accountability.
They would want names.
They would want timelines.
They would want to know who verified the information.
They would want to know how the failure happened.
And they would want corrective action.
The Department of Veterans Affairs should not be held to a lower standard simply because this happened behind a desk instead of on a flight line, aboard a ship, or in a combat zone.
VETERANS ARE NOT A BUDGET LINE
This is bigger than spreadsheets.
Every VA contract operates inside a system that exists for one purpose.
Serve the veteran.
Health care.
Community care.
Disability claims.
Mental health.
Caregivers.
Housing.
Transportation.
Technology.
Claims processing.
When contracts touching those systems are canceled prematurely or without a full understanding of the consequences, veterans can be the ones who absorb the impact.
That should never become acceptable collateral damage in a government cost cutting exercise.
Veterans should never have to wonder whether services they depend on were disrupted because somebody in Washington was racing a deadline or chasing a headline.
THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MUST ANSWER FOR THIS
The Department of Veterans Affairs owes veterans and Congress a full accounting.
Who approved the numbers?
Who verified the contract lists?
Which contracts were reinstated and why?
Which veteran services were affected?
Did any veteran experience a delay or disruption because a contract was terminated and later restored?
Why did inaccurate information reach Congress?
What safeguards are now in place to prevent this from happening again?
Those are not partisan questions.
Those are command questions.
When the mission involves America’s veterans, leadership does not get to hide behind process.
Leadership answers for the result.
The OIG issued no formal recommendations, identified no questioned costs, and listed no funds that could be put to better use because VA later provided Congress with a revised and clearer list after the problems were raised. That does not erase the reporting failures the audit documented.
VETERANS FIRST MEANS MISSION FIRST
Cut waste aggressively.
Protect veteran services relentlessly.
Track every taxpayer dollar accurately.
Tell Congress the truth.
Correct mistakes immediately.
Examine potentially improper or premature cancellations.
Identify where oversight failed.
And never confuse a press announcement with mission accomplished.
Veterans earned better than bureaucratic confusion.
Taxpayers deserve better than inflated or inaccurate numbers.
Congress deserves accurate information.
And the Department of Veterans Affairs has one mission that must never become secondary to politics, headlines, or administrative chaos.
Serve the veteran.
That mission requires discipline.
It requires accuracy.
It requires integrity.
And when the Department of Veterans Affairs fails that standard, veterans have every right to demand answers.
No excuses.
No fog.
No accounting games.
Get the numbers right.
Protect the mission.
Serve the veteran.
Kimberly Taiko Moyers
National Vet Force Director
Veterans for America First
United States Navy Veteran
Veterans First.
