That figure was nearly triple earlier estimates.
The subpoena approved by the House Veterans Affairs Committee also seeks documents related to millions of dollars spent on artwork and ornamental furnishings at VA offices nationwide, including more than $6.4 million spent on the Palo Alto, Calif., health care system.
The chairman of the veterans panel, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said it was “unfortunate that VA’s continued lack of transparency has led us to this decision” to issue the subpoena, but said lawmakers had little choice.
“We will not accept VA trying to pull the wool over the eyes of this committee and the American people for poor decision-making and waste of funds,” Miller said.
The GOP-led panel approved the subpoena by voice vote. Democrats objected, saying they worried that documents related to the Aurora, Colo. hospital could jeopardize agency whistleblowers who have helped officials learn the true scope of the cost overruns at the facility, considered one of the biggest boondoggles in the agency’s history.
Miller and other Republicans said the committee has a track record of protecting whistleblowers and the subpoena will not lead to the release of personally identifiable information.
The committee has been seeking documents related to the Denver hospital for months. The VA gave Congress a summary of an internal inquiry, but not the supporting documents, despite repeated requests from lawmakers.
The summary hasn’t been made public, and the VA has not responded to an open records request from The Associated Press to release it. Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson has said making the documents public could have a chilling effect on future internal investigations.
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., called approval of the subpoena a win for taxpayers and veterans alike.
“Veterans and the American people deserve answers on what drove over $1 billion in cost overruns and years of delay” in completing the Aurora hospital, said Coffman, whose district includes Aurora.
As chairman of a subcommittee on oversight and investigation, Coffman pushed a bill through Congress that transferred control of the Aurora project to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Panel chairman Miller said he has been seeking documents related to art contracts for more than year, following reports that the VA’s Palo Alto Health Care System spent more than $6.4 million on artwork and other furnishings, including two sculptures that cost nearly $500,000.
The subpoena seeks information on purchases of artwork and ornamental furnishings nationwide since 2010.
