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RELEASE: Pappas, Bergman, and Rice Call for Stronger Oversight of VA Purchase Card Program

August 2, 2019

Recent OIG report revealed there may be up to $920 million of potentially erroneous, improper, or illegal spending through VA purchase card program

Manchester, N.H.- Representative Chris Pappas (NH-01), who serves as the Chair of the Oversight and Investigations (O&I) Subcommittee for the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, alongside O&I Ranking member Jack Bergman (MI-01) and Committee member Kathleen Rice (NY-04), sent a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie to express concern over the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) oversight of its government charge card program.

The Members' concerns stem from the recent report Annual Risk Assessment of the VA's Charge Card Program which assessed that the purchase card program, which makes up $4.8 billion of the VA's annual spending is at risk for waste, fraud, and abuse.

"OIG's estimate that between 5 and 20 percent of transactions are at risk equates on average to between $230 million and $920 million of potentially erroneous, improper, or illegal spending," the bipartisan group of Members wrote in the letter. "There was a notable spike in fiscal year-end spending in 2018, which may represent unnecessary or wasteful purchases. OIG also documented continued inadequate data collection, which impedes conclusive determinations as to which transactions are wasteful or illegal, and which are merely inaccurately recorded or reported."

The letter requested a briefing on the purchases card program, and how the Department plans to use analytics to detect improper or fraudulent payments.
 

Issues:Veterans