Supreme Court Declines to Hear VA Rule of Two Challenge
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case Monday that could have upended the Rule of Two’s priority over the AbilityOne program for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ procurements.
Search Results for: Rule of Two
GAO: VA Rule of Two Doesn’t Apply if Pricing Isn’t Reasonable
GAO recently gave its blessing to a VA decision not to follow the Rule of Two, despite knowing several SDVOSBs would bid. The VA’s decision was based on the contracting officer’s opinion that prices would not be fair and reasonable based on an evaluation of prices and market research. The decision is important for providing […]
Hey VA! You Can’t Avoid the Rule of Two By Using GPO To Do Your Shopping.
It’s no secret that the VA has tried to find ways around the statutorily-mandated rule of two–i.e. VA must set aside procurements for VOSBS if it has a reasonable expectation that it will receive fair and reasonable offers from two or more veteran-owned small businesses. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has already told VA, in […]
VA Agrees that Rule of Two Has Priority Over AbilityOne Procurement List
Statute A tells you to solve Problem X one way. Statute B tells you to solve Problem X a completely different way. How do you reconcile these two conflicting mandates? The Federal Circuit encountered this exact problem in 2018, and in response to its holding, the VA has now issued a class deviation to reflect […]
VA SDVOSB Rule of Two: Court Provides Important Guidance for Protesters
A protester contending that the VA violated the “rule of two” by failing to set-aside a solicitation for SDVOSBs must present sufficient facts to indicate that the VA should have had a reasonable expectation of receiving two or more offers from SDVOSBs at fair and reasonable prices. In a recent decision, the Court of Federal […]
Small Business Set-Asides: When The “Rule Of Two” Becomes The “Rule Of One”
An agency isn’t required to cancel a small business set-aside solicitation if the agency learns that one of the small businesses upon whom the set-aside decision rested is no longer small. In a recent bid protest decision, the GAO confirmed that an agency need not redo its “rule of two” determination when a potential small […]
SBA Insists That Small Business Rule Of Two Applies To Some FSS Orders
Earlier this year, we wrote about an interesting issue brewing in federal contracting: whether the logic behind the Supreme Court’s June 2016 decision in Kingdomware Technologies means that the Small Business Act’s rule of two is mandatory for acquisitions under Federal Supply Schedules. In other words, does the Small Business Act require agencies to set aside […]