While Veterans Wait, VA Spends Millions Monitoring the Press

Written By Wesley McCauley

Tsk, tsk. The VA fought me hard on this one. I have all sorts of little birdies that send me things the VA puts out. Hey, Washington is known for leaks. At least this leak helps Veterans know what the VA is spending their dough on. Hint, it ain’t deciding claims correctly. So, here it is, two or three months ago, someone sent me a News Media Summary that the VA puts on on the daily. Check it out for yourself.

But Why?

Naturally, when I saw that VA was spending a lot of time and effort to monitor the news, I had to ask myself, “but why?” At first glance, it seems like a nothing burger. Then, you read the fine print. “The Department of Veterans Affairs has contracted for the following curated collection of articles involving Veterans and VA.” Contracted, you say? Now, that got my interested. Every single day, thousands of Veterans across this country are toe-to-toe with the VA in a grueling war of attrition (with the VA bureaucracy). They are waiting months, often years, for their disability claims to be processed, fighting tooth and nail for the Special Monthly Compensation they earned but the VA forgot to award years ago, and trying to navigate a health system that frequently tells them to just sit tight and wait. 3 months for a MRI. No biggie. Prosthetics can hold you over with a second hand ice pack. Gross.

But do you want to know what isn’t waiting? The VA’s daily morning reading list, and it’s costing tax payers millions. What happened to DOGE?

FOIA Sunshine

You know me. I couldn’t just read that and go “hm.” I had to do some digging to see why the VA is paying what AI can do for free.

The numbers are enough to sour the sweetest sweet tea.

According to the unredacted federal contract data, the VA signed a multi-year deal with a firm named Artemis Arc LLC for “Media Clipping and Analysis Services”. The grand total for this contract? A whopping $2,238,454.63.

And that’s just the beginning of the contract. By the time they reach Option Year 4, the VA will be paying $280,617.00 annually just for the daily news delivery. And what do they get for this gold plated subscription? They get a curated (how fancy), 25 to 50-word summary of what journalists are saying about them, complete with a spreadsheet detailing the “circulation or market reach” of the news outlets. I wonder if I will make the cut?

Oh, and don’t forget the companion modification on the books with another outfit, Aptive Resources LLC, which shows options climbing as high as $388,612.81 per period just to ensure the collective VA mind doesn’t miss a single mention of its name in print, broadcast, or blogs. According to USASpending.gov, this company has been awarded a total of $5.4 million in contracts. So much for DOGE.

FOIA Response

Now, the VA justifies the hefty price tag with a boilerplate disclaimer stamped right at the top of their daily media packets. They claim that paying millions to monitor the press “increases visibility” and positions leadership to “better serve Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors”. How posh.

Instead of routing dollars and cents to more doctors, shorter wait times, and better claim decisions, we’re spending millions to monitor the news and see what Veterans think about the VA. Classic Washington game. They don’t fix the roof when it leaks, they just pay millions of dollars to a corporate contractor to deliver a beautifully formatted daily brief confirming that, yes, the rain is still falling on your head. It’s time for the VA to stop reading the news and start making some good news. They can start by taking those millions spent on press clipping archives and putting them back where they belong: serving the men and women who held the line for this country.

Ultimately, what the FOIA reveals is the staggering infrastructure VA has built to manage optics. While individual Veterans spend hours on hold, months to get an community care referral approved, and years to get benefits, a dedicated team of private corporate contractors is working through the night—every night—to ensure that by sunrise, Washington bureaucrats have a perfectly cataloged, multi million dollar spreadsheet detailing how the rest of the country views their performance. If that ain’t telling, I don’t know what is.

‘Till next time. Keep your feet dry and your eyes open.

Godspeed.

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About the Author
Wesley McCauley

While working as the Operations Lieutenant for his local fire department during college, Wesley found his love for veteran’s law. Wesley was born and raised in rural south Georgia, where he continues to enjoy living. While attending Valdosta State University, a community also home to Moody Air Force Base, Wesley saw the lack of quality representation available to Veterans and their families—even in a military community. This led him to become a VA accredited representative, seeking to serve Veterans and their families. Following his time in the Fire Department, he founded United Veteran’s Disability in September of 2021.

Wesley has represented some of our nation’s finest, including a World War II POW, combat Veterans, Camp Lejeune Veterans, submariners, Vietnam widows, Coastguardsmen, Infantrymen, FBI agents, and even VA employees. Wesley says each have a common thread “love of country.” He has successfully recovered millions in benefits for veterans and their families. His largest single recovery totals over $525,000 in backpay. Wesley has represented Veterans and their families at the Regional Office level, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. He has handled both medically and legally complex claims. Wesley believes in the importance of maximizing benefits for veterans, and his clients are regularly awarded SMC to help compensate veterans above the 100% rate.

While Wesley represents a wide range of Veterans and survivors, a large part of his practice includes veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. “What we saw with Vietnam veterans and Agent Orange is playing itself over again, but with burn pit Veterans. As we continue to learn more about the diseases associated with burn pit exposure, it is important to hold the VA accountable and push for many more diseases to be presumptive, just as the Vietnam Veterans had to fight decades for.”

Wesley is a sustaining member of the National Organization for Veterans’ Advocates, a member of the CAVC Bar Association, Military-Veterans Advocacy, and is a lifetime member of the National Eagle Scout Association.

Outside of his practice, Wesley enjoys traveling with his wife, especially visiting our U.S. National Parks. Together, they plan to visit all 63 U.S. National Parks. They also enjoy exercising together, as well as nature photography.

https://unitedforvets.us
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