“… According to the Department of Government Efficiency dashboard, 28 VA contracts have been cancelled with claimed savings of $81 million. DOGE also says the awarded contract values total $148.6 million.
That gap is explained by the fact that many of the contracts have been underway for some time. VA has already paid for some of the products and services performed under the contract.
…Of the 28 cancelled contracts, 20 were held by service-disabled/veteran-owned small businesses. One was held by a veteran-owned small business.
The value of the 21 contracts held by veteran-owned businesses totals $121.4 million in awarded value. From those cancelled contracts, DOGE claims that will result in savings of $72.6 million.
VA is required by the 2006 Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act to use veteran-owned small business, both service-disabled and otherwise, when at least two veteran-owned companies can provide the services being procured. …”
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Because disabled vets get preferential treatment for VA contracts, they bear the brunt of the cuts. I doubt DOGE looked deeper than let’s cut stuff! Just because disabled vets fulfill the contracts doesn’t mean the contracts shouldn’t be cut — but in an organized process, there might be some actual cost-benefit analysis deeper than top line numbers.