ARCA Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The ARCA Act restructures Department of Veterans Affairs acquisition by creating a centralized Office of Acquisition, designating an Assistant Secretary for Acquisition as the department's Chief Acquisition Officer, and defining major acquisition programs by lifecycle and annual cost thresholds. It moves VA contracting officers, acquisition centers, logistics, and supply-chain functions into the new acquisition structure.
The bill also professionalizes VA acquisition management. Major acquisition programs must have accountable managers, program baselines, independent verification and validation, cost assessment and program evaluation, and certification or training requirements. Other provisions authorize other transaction authority, advance market commitments for veteran health technologies, and an 1102 contracting officer workforce pipeline.
Who Benefits and How
Veterans benefit if VA health-care technology, logistics, and procurement programs become more disciplined and less prone to cost or schedule failure. Congressional oversight committees, the VA Secretary, and the Deputy Secretary gain clearer lines of accountability. Project management certification providers, independent verification and validation firms, cost-estimation professionals, health-care technology startups, and nontraditional contractors benefit from new demand for reviews, certifications, innovation transactions, and advance market commitments.
Who Bears the Burden and How
VA acquisition offices, Veterans Health Administration procurement units, Veterans Benefits Administration procurement units, National Cemetery Administration procurement units, VA program managers, contracting officers, and major acquisition programs face new reporting lines, program baselines, certifications, independent reviews, and cost-assessment scrutiny. Existing contractors may face compliance reviews or competition from nontraditional contractors under the new authorities.
Key Provisions
- Creates an Office of Acquisition led by an Assistant Secretary for Acquisition who serves as Chief Acquisition Officer.
- Defines major acquisition programs using lifecycle and annual cost thresholds.
- Requires major acquisition program managers, program baselines, certifications, and performance accountability.
- Transfers VA contracting officers, acquisition centers, logistics, and supply-chain functions into the centralized structure.
- Requires independent verification and validation for major acquisition programs.
- Establishes cost assessment and program evaluation oversight.
- Authorizes other transaction authority and advance market commitments for veteran health-care technologies.
- Requires monitoring and expansion of the VA 1102 contracting officer workforce pipeline.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Restructures Department of Veterans Affairs acquisition by centralizing acquisition authority, adding major-program management controls, requiring independent verification and validation, creating cost-assessment oversight, and authorizing innovation procurement tools.
Key Policy Areas
Veterans Affairs, Government Procurement, Federal Workforce
Primary Purpose
Restructures Department of Veterans Affairs acquisition by centralizing acquisition authority, adding major-program management controls, requiring independent verification and validation, creating cost-assessment oversight, and authorizing innovation procurement tools.
Policy Domains
Whole bill
Identified Gains
- Veterans
- Congressional oversight committees
- Project management certification providers
- Independent verification and validation firms
- Cost-estimation professionals
- Health-care technology startups
- Nontraditional contractors
Identified Costs
- VA acquisition offices
- Veterans Health Administration procurement units
- Veterans Benefits Administration procurement units
- National Cemetery Administration procurement units
- VA program managers
- VA contracting officers
- Existing VA contractors
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed SenateHeld at the desk.
Received in the House.
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by …
Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR …
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. …
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Reported by Senator Moran with an …
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an …
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 119-86.
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Aspiring acquisition professionals, Congressional oversight, Congressional oversight committees
Positive-direction: Aspiring acquisition professionals, Entry-level acquisition professionals and interns, VA 1102 contracting officer workforce, VA acquisition workforce pipeline, VA contracting officers (softer transition), VA programs $250M-$1B (removed from major threshold), VA programs between $250M-$1B (no longer major acquisitions)
Negative-direction: Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, VA Chief Financial Officer, VA acquisition program offices, VA acquisition workforce, VA contracting officers and acquisition centers, VA contracting officers and acquisition staff, VA major acquisition programs, VA organizational subdivisions, VA program management professionals, VA program managers, VA programs exceeding $1B lifecycle or $200M annually
Existing IV&V contractors (compliance review), Existing IV&V contractors (no longer subject to compliance review), Firms with VA acquisition program contracts (conflict of interest)
Positive-direction: Existing IV&V contractors (no longer subject to compliance review), IV&V and SETA consulting firms with health care experience, IV&V consulting firms, Systems engineering firms
Negative-direction: Existing IV&V contractors (compliance review), Firms with VA acquisition program contracts (conflict of interest), IT support and consulting contractors, Large government IT and systems integration contractors, Small or new IV&V firms without three prior prime contracts
Health care technology developers, Health care technology developers (lost guaranteed purchase), Health care technology startups
Positive-direction: Health care technology developers, Health care technology startups, Innovation-focused health care technology firms, Nontraditional contractors
Negative-direction: Health care technology developers (lost guaranteed purchase), Health care technology startups (lost OTA pathway), Nontraditional health care contractors
Cost estimation and analysis professionals, Cost estimation professionals, Project management certification bodies
Nontraditional contractors (lost OTA pathway), Nontraditional defense contractors, Traditional large government contractors
Positive-direction: Nontraditional defense contractors
Negative-direction: Nontraditional contractors (lost OTA pathway)
DoD acquisition research center, Universities and training institutions with acquisition programs
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology