Tech Subcommittee Chairman Barrett, Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Chairman Van Orden Lead Joint Oversight Hearing on Improving VA’s Digital G.I. Bill Program for Student[...]

Tech Subcommittee Chairman Barrett, Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Chairman Van Orden Lead Joint Oversight Hearing on Improving VA's Digital G.I. Bill Program for Student Veterans

Today, Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.), the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared at the start the subcommittee's joint oversight hearing to examine how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) plans to continue its efforts to keep VA's Digital G.I. Bill (DGIB) program on track and learn from past challenges - including system failures, schedule delays, and cost overruns. The hearing will also discuss the impact DGIB has had on schools and student veterans by evaluating VA's communications and planning during implementation of DGIB updates across the country.

Subcommittee on Technology Modernization Chairman Barrett's Remarks:

Good afternoon. This joint hearing will now come to order.

Today, we are here to talk about one of the most important promises our nation makes to those who have served.

Veterans made a commitment to serve.

They made the sacrifice.

And when our veterans come home, America helps them build the next chapter of their life.

For millions of veterans and families, the G.I. Bill is not just a benefit.

It is the bridge from military service to civilian life.

It gives veterans a fair shot at building a future.

It ensures veterans have the tools they need to get the education or job training they want, where they want, and without a bunch of bureaucracy standing in the way so that they can eventually be competitive in the American economy.

That promise should be simple.

And it should be reliable.

But over several years, the Digital G.I. Bill has struggled to meet that standard.

This system was meant to modernize how education benefits are delivered.

It was supposed to replace outdated systems, reduce paperwork, and make payments faster.

Instead, what we have seen are delays, confusion, and multimillion dollar rising costs.

That is unacceptable.

The Digital G.I. Bill system began with unclear requirements.

It moved forward without the right subject-matter experts at the table.

For years, it lacked basic project management discipline and a reliable schedule.

This is not a modernization mistake.

This is mismanagement, plain and simple.

The Digital G.I. Bill contract was awarded five years ago in 2021.

It was expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Today, that cost has more than doubled, with the full life-cycle price now reaching into the billions.

Meanwhile, veterans are missing housing payments.

Schools are being left in the dark without clear guidance.

This is not about a single technical error.

It is about leadership decisions.

It is about contracting strategy.

And it ties back to a lack of accountability.

A benefits system should never become a barrier to benefits.

Veterans earned the G.I. Bill through years of service and sacrifice.

They should not have to re-earn it by waiting in call queues, navigating backlogs, or praying the system works this time.

Today's hearing is about understanding what went wrong and just as importantly, what must change.

Because this problem is not unique to the Digital G.I. Bill.

Across the entire department, large technology programs continue to struggle under vague requirements, and weak oversight, resulting in contracts that cost taxpayers more while delaying the delivery of VA services to our veterans.

When accountability is unclear, costs rise.

Schedules slip.

And the veterans and their families these systems are meant to serve pay the price.

That is why this hearing is also about acquisition reform.

If we do not fix how these systems are procured and awarded, we will repeat the same mistakes at the expense of veterans and taxpayers.

As Chairman of this subcommittee, and I know my friend and fellow subcommittee Chairman, Rep. Van Orden, shares this message: that doesn't work for us.

The status quo isn't cutting it, and President Trump and Secretary Collins share that commitment.

Thank you all for being here today. I look forward to a productive discussion today on how we move forward to create permanent, needed changes.

Before I yield, please be advised that the Chairman may declare a recess at any time.

With that, I yield to Ranking Member Budzinski for her opening statement.

Thank you, Ranking Member Budzinski.

I now yield to our Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Chairman, my friend, Chairman Van Orden, for his opening statement.

Thank you, Chairman Van Orden.

I now yield to the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Ranking Member Pappas, for his opening statement.

Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Chairman Van Orden's Remarks:

Thank you, Chairman Barrett.

I want to thank everyone for being here today to discuss the Digital G.I. Bill program.

I would also like to thank VA for finally sending the specific witnesses that we requested so we are able to get our questions answered.

I believe this is a topic that can be approached in a nonpartisan manner.

The ultimate goal of this hearing is to get down to brass tacks and figure out how VA can continue its efforts to keep the DGIB program on track and learn from past mistakes.

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, I am committed to providing our veterans with the resources they need to pursue education or employment opportunities. Veterans earned their education benefits through their service to this great country, and it is our obligation to ensure those benefits are delivered reliably and on time.

The DGIB program is a multimillion-dollar VA effort intended to streamline education claims processing by consolidating outdated legacy IT systems and automating adjudication of most claims. This should make it easier - not harder - for veterans to access and receive their education benefits. However, delays in benefit payments continue to impact student veterans.

My Subcommittee held a hearing in December 2025 which examined how payment failures in VA's DGIB systems originated.

The Subcommittee also heard about the real-world impact these delayed payments have on students.

Today's hearing will examine how contracting issues and lack of program oversight led to these delayed payments and how we move forward.

The purpose of this hearing is to focus on the solicitation and contract administration of DGIB. Specifically, how contracting decisions made in the early stages of the program have impacted delivery of the platform that has only ballooned the cost of the contract to over $2 billion dollars. The most recent cost estimate from MITRE anticipates the DGIB program is expected to cost $2.7 billion.

The costs for this project have increased by over a billion dollars compared to the original estimate provided to the Congress in 2021.

During today's hearing, VA must take responsibility for the continued delays and the skyrocketing costs on behalf of the American taxpayer. Student veterans deserve a reliable and modern system, and taxpayers deserve assurance that their investment is worthwhile - period.

Today we have witnesses from the Veterans Benefit Administration, the Office of Information and Technology and the Office of Business Integration.

With all these different Departments within VA present I look forward to seeing how all of you plan to work together to ensure DGIB is in good hands and take accountability for prior mistakes in order to not repeat them in the future on behalf of the veterans this program is intended to benefit.

I want to end with a quote from General Omar Bradley who also served as the administrator of VA after World War two.

"We are dealing with [veterans], not procedures; with their problems, not ours."

This was true in the 1940's and it is true today. We cannot let ourselves get bogged down in Washington speak and finger pointing. We must ensure our focus today is on improving the lives of student veterans and their families as nothing else should matter.

With that, I yield to Ranking Member Pappas for an opening statement.

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