# 119-hr-6833: ARCA Act of 2025

119-hr-6833, ARCA Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Barrett, Tom [R-MI-7] (R-MI); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-22).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6833
- As of: 2026-10-22
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-6833
- Congress: 119
- Title: ARCA Act of 2025
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-12-18
- Sponsor: Rep. Barrett, Tom [R-MI-7] (R-MI)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-22

## Summary

**Centralized VA acquisition** moves procurement, logistics, and program management into a single Office of Acquisition to tighten cost control and boost independent oversight. The Act also creates a dedicated cost assessment function to produce independent estimates and program evaluations for major VA programs. - Consolidates VA acquisition under a new Office of Acquisition within 1 year and creates an Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, deputies, Program Executive Officers, and a requirement that program managers hold advanced project management certification. - Sets clear major acquisition thresholds for stricter governance for programs that exceed $200 million in annual cost or $1 billion in lifecycle cost, requires a standardized requirements process, and mandates Independent Verification and Validation that covers design, requirements, and cost and schedule baselines. - Creates a Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation to deliver independent cost estimates before major decisions and annual reports to Congress, requires reporting when estimates exceed budgets by more than 5 percent, expands acquisition internships to 2x–4x 2025 levels, and calls for a systems engineering analysis with the DoD Acquisition Research Center.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Messmer, Mark B. [R-IN-8] (R-IN), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Bigger acquisition internship hiring: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would prioritize hiring entry-level acquisition staff from VA acquisition internship programs. By September 30 of the first fiscal year after enactment, annual internship participants must be at least twice and no more than four times the number in fiscal year 2025. The numeric…
- Independent cost and engineering reviews: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would create a Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation who reports to the Secretary. The Director would do independent cost estimates before major acquisition decisions, develop cost-estimation policies, evaluate program effectiveness, and send an annual report to Co…
- New IV&V contracting rules: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would require VA to seek competitively awarded Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) contracts not later than 120 days after enactment. IV&V would check major programs at start, end, and other times chosen by the Chief Acquisition Officer. If enacted, IV&V contractors…
- New centralized acquisition office: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would create an Office of Acquisition led by an Assistant Secretary who would be the Department's Chief Acquisition Officer. Major acquisition program offices would be required to report directly to that Assistant Secretary and new deputy posts and program executive officers wo…
- Which programs are "major": mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would define a "major acquisition program" as one with life-cycle costs above $1 billion or annual costs above $200 million. Those dollar tests would be adjusted under existing law and depend on the Secretary's cost estimate. If enacted, the bill would also require a standardiz…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4317: PBM Reform Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025
- 119-hr-833: Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025
- 119-hr-740: Veterans’ ACCESS Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-6833 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6833)

## Related
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-4317: PBM Reform Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4317)
- [119-hr-1229: United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1229)
- [119-hr-833: Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-833)
- [119-hr-740: Veterans’ ACCESS Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-740)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6833 (as of 2026-10-22).