VA Acquisition Reform: GAO Warns That Reorganization Without Governance Discipline May Miss the Point

The U.S. Government Accountability Office’s May 2026 report, Veterans Affairs: Acquisition Reorganization Should Reflect Leading Practices, authored under the direction of Tatiana Winger, Director for Contracting and National Security Acquisitions, examines a consequential moment for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ acquisition enterprise. GAO’s work, supported by Teague Lyons, Nicolaus R. Heun, TyAnn Lee, Laura Greifner, Adam Wolfe, Jean McSween, Suellen Foth, Matthew T. Crosby, Justin Snover, Sarah Veale, and Mona Sehgal, is not merely a review of organizational charts. It is a warning that acquisition reform must be grounded in strategy, workforce planning, stakeholder engagement, and measurable outcomes if it is to improve the government’s ability to serve veterans.

VA manages one of the largest acquisition portfolios in the federal government, obligating more than $78 billion in fiscal year 2025. According to GAO, VA’s contract obligations increased 166 percent between fiscal years 2016 and 2025, after adjusting for inflation. Much of this growth is tied directly to mission delivery, including community care contracts that allow eligible veterans to receive medical care from non-VA providers. This scale makes acquisition management a mission-critical function, not merely an administrative support activity.

GAO emphasizes that VA’s acquisition structure remains highly decentralized. The Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction oversees department-level acquisition activity, but contracting authority is dispersed across multiple heads of contracting activities, including within the Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration, and National Cemetery Administration. This decentralization can force internal customers, such as medical centers and program offices, to navigate multiple contracting entities to meet operational needs. GAO’s diagrams underscore the complexity of these relationships and the potential for fragmented accountability.

The report places VA’s current reorganization in the context of persistent acquisition weaknesses. VA acquisition management has been on GAO’s High-Risk List since 2019 due to recurring problems in strategic planning, policy execution, supply chain modernization, workforce management, and leadership continuity. GAO notes that 23 prior recommendations remained open as of January 2026. These unresolved findings matter because VA is now reducing and realigning its acquisition workforce while still developing a full reorganization plan.

One of the report’s most important observations is that VA reduced its contracting staff by approximately 15 percent between April and November 2025. Several acquisition leaders reported resulting gaps in key roles, with some offices pausing or scaling back work. This creates an obvious implementation risk: VA is attempting structural reform while simultaneously operating with fewer acquisition professionals. GAO therefore cautions that workforce planning should not be treated as an afterthought.

GAO recommends that VA apply selected leading practices for agency reform. These include establishing clear goals and outcomes, involving stakeholders and employees, managing and monitoring progress, conducting strategic workforce planning, and strengthening employee engagement. The report’s core message is that consolidation alone will not solve VA’s acquisition challenges. A centralized structure may reduce overlap, but without performance measures, role clarity, stakeholder feedback, and adequate workforce capacity, reorganization could simply relocate existing dysfunction.

For contractors, the report is important because acquisition structure affects procurement strategy, speed, consistency, and contract oversight. For policymakers, it reinforces that procurement reform is not achieved through organizational movement alone. For VA, the opportunity is substantial: a disciplined reorganization could improve buying power, reduce duplication, strengthen supply chain performance, and better align acquisition execution with veterans’ needs.

Disclaimer:
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, procurement, or consulting advice. Readers should review the full GAO report and applicable statutes, regulations, and agency guidance before relying on any conclusions.