VA Spent $5 Billion-plus on Improper Purchases

Veterans Affairs Department employees using purchase cards improperly spent at least $5 billion on medical supplies, including prosthetics, a senior VA official told lawmakers on Thursday. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Logistics Jan Frye said he was a reluctant whistleblower, but was compelled to go to Congress after warnings and concerns to VA Secretary Bob McDonald failed to garner any kind of response. In his 35-page letter to McDonald, which was leaked to The Washington Post and reported on before Thursday's hearing, Frye alleged that employees improperly used VA purchase cards to buy billions of dollars in medical supplies without contracts in recent years. For more details, see this Military.com article.