The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has signed and served subpoenas compelling Oracle executive chair Larry Ellison and co-CEO Mike Sicilia to testify about the company’s $27 billion VA EHR contract.
The committee voted 19-0 to force the testimony after a motion from Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., during a Sept. 2 oversight hearing. Chair Mike Bost, R-Ill., recessed the hearing and repeatedly pressed Democrats to withdraw the motion; they refused, and Republicans ultimately joined them in the vote.
The subpoenas require Mr. Ellison and Mr. Sicilia to answer under oath for a no-bid contract modification that raised the deal’s ceiling from roughly $10 billion to $27 billion, despite years of delays, technical failures and patient safety concerns affecting veterans. Mr. Sicilia told Congress in 2022 that Oracle would bear the cost of fixing the system.
“Oracle agreed to testify, backed out, then tried to substitute private conversations for public accountability,” ranking member Mark Takano, D-Calif., said in a Sept. 14 statement. “Nineteen members of this committee, Republicans and Democrats, said that was unacceptable.”
Mr. Takano also said Mr. Ellison donated $45 million to a political nonprofit backing President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign before the VA approved the ceiling increase, calling the timing a matter Congress has a duty to examine.
The subpoenas set up a public hearing where lawmakers can question Oracle’s leaders directly on a contract that has drawn repeated scrutiny from Congress and the Government Accountability Office over its cost and rollout.
An Oracle spokesperson provided the following statement to Becker’s:
“Oracle is proud to serve our nation’s veterans and supports congressional oversight. We have testified 10 times since acquiring Cerner in June of 2022 before congressional committees on the VA project, with our CEO Mike Sicilia testifying seven of those times.
“When [Oracle Health General Manager Seema] Verma was invited to the hearing on Sept. 2, we immediately made the committee aware of a scheduling conflict and worked collaboratively to find an accommodation. Ms. Verma accepted based on an understanding that the timing would work, and when the committee later informed us the accommodation would no longer be made, unfortunately Ms. Verma was unable to testify. We regret that timing — not a lack of willingness — prevented her testimony and look forward to providing relevant testimony when Congress returns after the election.”
