VA targets 585 ‘non-mission critical’ contracts for elimination

The Veterans Affairs Department is moving to cancel 585 contracts that it has deemed non-mission critical or duplicative.

VA has announced the cuts Monday afternoon and said the decision follows a review of 2,000 professional services contracts.

VA has not responded to a request for a list of the cancelled contracts.

VA is claiming the cancellations will save $900 million, or about half of the total $1.8 billion in award value of the contracts.

“The termination of these contracts will not negatively affect Veteran care, benefits or services, and will help VA better focus on its core mission,” VA said in its announcement.

Work on these contracts included generating requirements for other contractors to fulfill, administrative services such as staff mentoring, leadership coaching, and meeting prep, and executive support.

On Tuesday, VA Secretary Doug Collins said that the agency would be cutting $2 billion in contracts.

The vast majority of the contracts being cut so far are held by service-disabled/veteran-owned small businesses, according to the Department of Government Efficiency Wall of Receipts.

The DOGE lists 34 VA contracts to-date as cancelled.

Also announcing contract cuts on Monday was the Social Security Administration, which is claiming $150 million in savings by nixing "non-essential" IT contracts and reducing work under other IT services contracts.

SSA also is claiming savings from reduced travel, payroll, real estate, guards, printing and postage, and purchase cards. The cuts bring total savings or cost avoidance to $800 million, according to SSA.