Oracle execs hauled in front of committee after VA project cost jumps $17bn

A US House committee is calling in Oracle’s founder and CEO over a troubled project to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) electronic health records (EHR) after it signed a new $27 billion contract.

Co-Founder Larry Ellison and CEO Mike Sicilia were subpoenaed by the House Committee on Veterans Affairs this week after its chair, Mike Bost, said he had been unable to arrange their attendance voluntarily following the contract renewal.

The project to install a new EHR system and align it with systems used by the Department of War (née Defence) began in 2017, after three previous failed projects, under initial vendor Cerner, and was originally supposed to last 10 years at a cost of $10 billion.

Rollout was delayed by the pandemic, but the system has also run into a series of problems, with an audit finding early implementations had “caused multiple events of patient harm”. As a result, just six VA Medical Centres had installed the site as of the beginning of 2026.

During a hearing on 2 September, Ranking Member Mark Takano said Oracle had reneged after initial acceptaning to appear in front of the committee, citing "time constraints and the two-panel structure". He said the company should have to "answer for its performance" and explain the $17 billion contract adjustment.

Oracle did not return a request for comment before publication.

“Back on track”?