VA Hospital Inventory Management System Authorization Act

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Bill ID: 119/hr/3494
Last Updated: July 12, 2026

Sponsored by

Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2]

ID: K000399

Follow the money

The bill

VA Hospital Inventory Management System Authorization Act

HR. 3494, 119th Congress — read as touching Medical Devices.

The sponsor

Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2]

Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.

The money

$141,350 raised

23 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.

The alignment

66% match to Project 2025

This bill's text tracks the "Introduction" section, p. 682-684 of the Mandate for Leadership.

Bill's Journey to Becoming a Law

Track this bill's progress through the legislative process

Latest Action

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

September 15, 2025

Introduced

Committee Review

Floor Action

Passed House

Senate Review

📍 Current Status

Next: Both chambers must agree on the same version of the bill.

🎉

Passed Congress

🖊️

Presidential Action

⚖️

Became Law

📚 How does a bill become a law?

1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.

2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.

3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.

4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.

5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.

6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.

7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!

Bill Summary

Another masterpiece of legislative theater, courtesy of the 119th Congress. The VA Hospital Inventory Management System Authorization Act - a title that screams "we're doing something, but don't ask what." Let's dissect this farce.

**Diagnosis:** A classic case of bureaucratic bloat and crony capitalism, masquerading as a solution to the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) supply chain woes. The real disease? Inefficiency, incompetence, and a dash of corruption.

**Symptoms:**

1. **New regulations being created or modified**: The bill authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to purchase or develop a cloud-based information technology system for inventory management. Because what every government agency needs is more IT spending and another contractor's gravy train. 2. **Affected industries and sectors**: The VA, its contractors, and the IT industry will be the primary beneficiaries of this boondoggle. Expect a surge in lobbying efforts from companies like Oracle, SAP, or IBM to secure those lucrative contracts. 3. **Compliance requirements and timelines**: The Secretary has three years to implement the system, with a pilot program at one facility before rolling it out nationwide. Plenty of time for bureaucratic foot-dragging and excuses when (not if) things go awry. 4. **Enforcement mechanisms and penalties**: None mentioned in the bill. Because who needs accountability when you're spending taxpayer dollars on IT projects that will inevitably fail or be grossly overbudget? 5. **Economic and operational impacts**: The VA's supply chain issues will persist, but the contractors will get paid, and politicians can claim they "did something" to help veterans.

**Treatment:** None needed; this bill is a placebo. The real cure for the VA's ills would involve actual reform, like streamlining procurement processes, reducing bureaucratic red tape, and holding officials accountable for waste and incompetence. But that would require politicians to put the interests of veterans above those of their corporate donors.

In conclusion, HR 3494 is a textbook example of legislative malpractice - a feel-good bill designed to placate voters while enriching special interests. Don't be surprised when this "solution" only exacerbates the problems it's supposed to solve.

Related Topics

Military & Veterans AffairsDefense Spending & Procurement
Generated using Llama 3.1 70B (Dr. Haus personality)

💰 Campaign Finance Network

Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2]

Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle

Total Contributions
$141,350
21 donors
PACs
$2,000
Organizations
$0
Committees
$0
Individuals
$138,600
1
AIPAC- EARMARKS
1 transaction
$2,000

No organization contributions found

No committee contributions found

1
KEHOE, MICHAEL
1 transaction
$13,200
2
SCHWARTZBERG, ANDREW
2 transactions
$13,200
3
MITCHUM, ELZA
1 transaction
$6,600
4
SILVERMAN, JEFFREY
1 transaction
$6,600
5
PERRY, J DOUGLAS
1 transaction
$6,600
6
WEEKLEY, RICHARD
1 transaction
$6,600
7
GILLIAM, MARVIN
1 transaction
$6,600
8
BOHANNON, DAVID
1 transaction
$6,600
9
FAISON, JAY W.
1 transaction
$6,600
10
KILMER, RONALD L. MR.
1 transaction
$6,600
11
UIHLEIN, RICHARD E.
1 transaction
$6,600
12
YOUNGKIN, GLENN A.
1 transaction
$6,600
13
NERO, TONY
1 transaction
$6,600
14
HOLLAND, LAWIS STANLEY
1 transaction
$6,600
15
COPELAND, TODD A.
1 transaction
$6,600
16
FELTON, NICOLINA
1 transaction
$6,600
17
THURMOND, RICHARD
1 transaction
$6,600
18
KELLY, SUSAN
1 transaction
$6,600
19
GILLIAM, RICHARD
1 transaction
$6,600

Cosponsors & Their Campaign Finance

This bill has 2 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.

Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19]

ID: P000613

Top Contributors

10

1
ACROSS THE AISLE PAC
PACWASHINGTON, DC
$1,000
Jan 12, 2023
2
ACROSS THE AISLE PAC
PACWASHINGTON, DC
$500
Mar 23, 2023
3
FEDERATED INDIANS OF GRATON RANCHERIA
OrganizationROHNERT PARK, CA
$3,300
Apr 12, 2023
4
FEDERATED INDIANS OF GRATON RANCHERIA
OrganizationROHNERT PARK, CA
$3,300
Apr 12, 2023
5
MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
OrganizationBANNING, CA
$3,300
Apr 12, 2023
6
EASTERN BAND OF CHEROKEE INDIANS
OrganizationCHEROKEE, NC
$3,300
Oct 16, 2024
7
SYCUAN BAND OF THE KUMEYAAY NATION
OrganizationEL CAJON, CA
$2,500
Nov 9, 2023
8
MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
OrganizationBANNING, CA
$1,700
Apr 12, 2023
9
CROWN, LESTER
NOT EMPLOYEDNOT EMPLOYED
IndividualCHICAGO, IL
$6,600
Aug 9, 2024
10
KIM, SOON
IndividualSANTA CRUZ, CA
$4,300
Sep 30, 2024

Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7]

ID: V000138

Top Contributors

10

1
LUX FOR VIRGINIA
OrganizationLADYSMITH, VA
$500
Mar 29, 2024
2
LUX FOR VIRGINIA
OrganizationLADYSMITH, VA
$500
Mar 31, 2024
3
FORSTER-BURKE, DIANE
NOT EMPLOYEDNOT EMPLOYED
IndividualCOTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, UT
$4,000
Apr 20, 2024
4
FORSTER-BURKE, DIANE
IndividualCOTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, UT
$4,000
May 5, 2024
5
VON STEIN, THOMSON
IndividualROCKVILLE, MD
$3,500
Aug 7, 2024
6
HULL, MEGAN
SELFACTIVIST
IndividualWASHINGTON, DC
$3,300
Nov 2, 2024
7
KAISER, GEORGE
GBK CORPORATIONEXECUTIVE
IndividualTULSA, OK
$3,300
Oct 25, 2024
8
PARSONS, KATHLEEN
NOT EMPLOYEDNOT EMPLOYED
IndividualPOTOMAC, MD
$3,300
Oct 18, 2024
9
STAPLE, HARISE
SELFMD
IndividualLOS ALTOS, CA
$3,300
Oct 18, 2024
10
HOLMES, LAURA
SELFREAL ESTATE INVESTOR
IndividualBOCA RATON, FL
$3,300
Oct 22, 2024

Donor Network - Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2]

PACs
Organizations
Individuals
Politicians

Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.

Loading...

Showing 51 nodes and 29 connections (45 secondary connections hidden)

Total contributions: $151,150

Top Donors - Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2]

Showing top 21 donors by contribution amount

1 PAC1 Committee19 Individuals

Industry Impact

Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 3 helped.

  • +Medical Devicesconfidence 0.90

    Section 2(a)(1) authorizes purchase or development of a cloud-based IT system for inventory management of expendable and nonexpendable items for Veterans Health Administration, which would increase demand for medical devices and supplies tracked by the system.

  • Section 2 authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to implement a supply chain management system for medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, directly benefiting VA hospitals and health systems through improved inventory management.

  • Section 2(a)(1) specifies a cloud-based information technology system, which would benefit cloud infrastructure providers and potentially AI components integrated into such systems for inventory management.

Project 2025 Policy Matches

This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.

Introduction

Moderate66.1%
Pages: 682-684

— 650 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise Toxins, has led to historic increases in mandatory VBA spending in recent years. The VA has a time-phased plan to reassess the VASRD and its ratings for com- pensation, but this internal process can be slow and laborious, requires Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approvals, and can become politically charged both in Congress and with VSOs. l The next Administration should explore how VASRD reviews could be accelerated with clearance from OMB to target significant cost savings from revising disability rating awards for future claimants while preserving them fully or partially for existing claimants. l The VBA’s Information Technology top-line budget should be reexamined and reassessed in light of the need for expanded automation across the enterprise. l Traditionally, VHA captures the large majority of VA IT funding. The VBA needs to make the case for a larger IT budget with clear requirements to support that request. Personnel l Pursue reforms of the Human Capital Management process and operations within the VBA to build a more blended workforce with more contractors to process claims. This would free federal employees to perform other duties and be involved solely with the final decision to award benefits. l Improve the VBA acquisition workforce. The VBA needs more world-class contractor support. Currently, few of the top companies have contracts with the VBA, and the VBA needs to conduct more outreach to the private sector through senior leader engagement and industry conferences. l To identify more effective and efficient ways to complete claims, establish a knowledge exchange program with top-tier private-sector companies that do similar work. The VBA is fundamentally a financial services organization. A significant amount of its work has a private-sector analogue that could be leveraged to improve service to veterans. l For most of its existence, the VBA has been a risk-averse, insular, paper-based organization, implementing technology only over the past decade. This insularity has led to a predominantly “build it ourselves” approach, partly because VBA staff has limited experience or insight into current private- sector tools and methods and partly because the VBA struggles to compete — 651 — Department of Veterans Affairs with the VHA for IT funding. Senior executive leadership needs more innovators and trail blazers—qualities that have sometimes been lacking in the VBA’s senior ranks. Recruiting a more relevantly knowledgeable and technologically savvy team, along with robust political control of the VA, could bring about better solutions to the VBA’s workflow challenges. HUMAN RESOURCES AND ADMINISTRATION (HRA) Needed Reforms l Rescind all delegations of authority promulgated by the VA under the prior Administration. l Transfer all career SES out of PA/PAS-designated positions on the first day and ensure political control of the VA. l Take a close and analytically critical look at where hybrid and remote work is a net positive as a functional necessity and where in-person collaboration and presence will help to instill a strong work ethic and a more cohesive environment for productivity from the Office of the Secretary across the headquarters enterprise. The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a significant shift to hybrid and telework options for large segments of the staff in the Washington headquarters, in its sat- ellites, and at some VBA Regional Offices. The “remote work” expectation has been amplified and formalized within the Biden Administration team at VA to the extent that the current Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and their staffs are not “in office” as a matter of a routine presence while VA staff in Washington, D.C., have limited in-person meetings, relying more frequently on video conference calls. The short-term and long-term effects of this policy on the department are unknown, but generally, the policy may be undermining the cohesiveness and competencies of some staff functions and diluting general organizational accountability and responsiveness. Budget l Expedite the acquisition of a new Human Resources Information Technology (HRIT) system. The current system is not user-friendly; has minimal fusion, middle-ware capacity; and is not conducive to data driven personnel decisions. Personnel data needs to be organized and managed to its full potential. The HRIT system, associated databases, and other “shadow” personnel systems have no shortage of data; the problem comes with effective management of the data.

Introduction

Moderate64.8%
Pages: 679-681

— 646 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise 3. Section 121 (developing and administering an education program that teaches veterans about their health care options available from the Department of Veterans Affairs). 4. Section 152 (returning the Office for Innovation of Care and Payment to the Office of Enterprise Integration with a joint governance process set up with the VHA). 5. Section 161 (overhauling Family Caregiver Program expansion, which has gone poorly, so that it focuses on consistency of eligibility and awareness that the most severely wounded or injured may require the program indefinitely). l Require the VHA to report publicly on all aspects of its operation, including quality, safety, patient experience, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness, using standards similar to those in the Medicare Accountable Care Organization program so that the government may monitor and achieve continuous improvement in the VA system more effectively. l Encourage VA Medical Centers to seek out relevant academic and private- sector input in their communities to improve the overall patient experience. Budget l Conduct an independent audit of the VA similar to the 2018 Department of Defense (DOD) audit to identify IT, management, financial, contracting, and other deficiencies. l Assess the misalignment of VHA facilities and rising infrastructure costs. The VHA operates 172 inpatient medical facilities nationally that are an average of 60 years old. Some of these facilities are underutilized and inadequately staffed. Facilities in certain urban and rural areas are seeing significant declines in the veteran population and strong competition for fresh medical staff. In 2018, Congress authorized an Asset Infrastructure Review (AIR) of national VHA medical markets to provide insight into where the VA health care budget should be responsibly allocated to serve veterans most effectively. However, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee lacked the political will to act on the White House’s nominations of commission members, and this ultimately led to termination of the AIR process. The next Administration should seek out agile, creative, and politically acceptable operational solutions to this aging infrastructure status quo,

Introduction

Moderate64.8%
Pages: 679-681

— 646 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise 3. Section 121 (developing and administering an education program that teaches veterans about their health care options available from the Department of Veterans Affairs). 4. Section 152 (returning the Office for Innovation of Care and Payment to the Office of Enterprise Integration with a joint governance process set up with the VHA). 5. Section 161 (overhauling Family Caregiver Program expansion, which has gone poorly, so that it focuses on consistency of eligibility and awareness that the most severely wounded or injured may require the program indefinitely). l Require the VHA to report publicly on all aspects of its operation, including quality, safety, patient experience, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness, using standards similar to those in the Medicare Accountable Care Organization program so that the government may monitor and achieve continuous improvement in the VA system more effectively. l Encourage VA Medical Centers to seek out relevant academic and private- sector input in their communities to improve the overall patient experience. Budget l Conduct an independent audit of the VA similar to the 2018 Department of Defense (DOD) audit to identify IT, management, financial, contracting, and other deficiencies. l Assess the misalignment of VHA facilities and rising infrastructure costs. The VHA operates 172 inpatient medical facilities nationally that are an average of 60 years old. Some of these facilities are underutilized and inadequately staffed. Facilities in certain urban and rural areas are seeing significant declines in the veteran population and strong competition for fresh medical staff. In 2018, Congress authorized an Asset Infrastructure Review (AIR) of national VHA medical markets to provide insight into where the VA health care budget should be responsibly allocated to serve veterans most effectively. However, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee lacked the political will to act on the White House’s nominations of commission members, and this ultimately led to termination of the AIR process. The next Administration should seek out agile, creative, and politically acceptable operational solutions to this aging infrastructure status quo, — 647 — Department of Veterans Affairs reimagine the health care footprint in some locales, and spur a realignment of capacity through budgetary allocations. Specifically: 1. Embrace the expansion of Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) as an avenue to maintain a VA footprint in challenging medical markets without investing further in obsolete and unaffordable VA health care campuses. 2. Explore the potential to pilot facility-sharing partnerships between the VA and strained local health care systems to reduce costs by leveraging limited talent and resources. Personnel l Extend the term of the Under Secretary for Health (USH) to five years. Additionally, authority should be given to reappoint this individual for a second five-year term both to allow for continuity and to protect the USH from political transition. l Establish a Senior Executive Service (SES) position of VHA Care System Chief Information Officer (CIO), selected by and reporting to the chief of the VHA Care System with a dotted line to the VA CIO. l Identify a workflow process to bring wait times in compliance with VA MISSION Act–required time frames wherever possible. 1. Assess the daily clinical appointment load for physicians and clinical staff in medical facilities where wait times for care are well outside of the time frames required by the VA MISSION Act. 2. Require VHA facilities to increase the number of patients seen each day to equal the number seen by DOD medical facilities: approximately 19 patients per provider per day. Currently, VA facilities may be seeing as few as six patients per provider per day. 3. Consider a pilot program to extend weekday appointment hours and offer Saturday appointment options to veterans if a facility continues to demonstrate that it has excess capacity and is experiencing delays in the delivery of care for veterans. 4. Identify clinical services that are consistently in high demand but require cost-prohibitive compensation to recruit and retain talent, and examine exceptions for higher competitive pay.

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Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.

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