We use cookies to give you the best online experience. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy. Learn more here.Close Me
United States: U.S. Supreme Court Unanimously Holds That Veterans Are Entitled To Full Set Of Competitive Bidding Opportunities Congress Enacted In 2006 Veterans Act
In a ruling affecting billions of dollars of government
contracts, and impacting tens of thousands of veteran-owned small
businesses across the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court
unanimously upheld expanded competitive bidding opportunities for
veteran-owned small businesses in Kingdomware Technologies v. United States,
14-916. [Note: Duane Morris LLP represented the
National Veteran Small Business Coalition and several other
national veterans organizations and individual veteran-owned
businesses as amici curiae in support of Kingdomware. Duane Morris
has a longstanding tradition and commitment to pro bono work on
behalf of
veterans.]
The unanimous ruling means that veterans now will have (as
Congress intended) expanded opportunities to compete for business
with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under the Veterans
Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006
("the Act"). The VA had argued for different
limitations—not set forth in the statute itself—on the
type and scope of contracts available for competitive bidding by
and amongst veterans, and the Federal Circuit had allowed the VA to
ignore the Act's mandate for competitive bidding by
veteran-owned small businesses. In practical terms, the VA's
interpretation resulted in roughly $10 billion of the VA's $18
billion in annual purchases being exempt from the competitive
bidding process by the veteran-owned small businesses that Congress
had enacted. The unanimous Supreme Court ruling rejects that
interpretation and restores to veterans the full competitive
bidding opportunities that Congress intended.
If you have any questions about this Alert,
please contact Luke P. McLoughlin, Robert L. Byer, Kristina
Caggiano Kelly, Michael E. Barnicle, any of the attorneys in our
Appellate, Government Contracts or Trial Practice Groups or the
attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in
contact.
Disclaimer:This Alert has been
prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not
offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more
information, please see the firm's
full disclaimer.
To print this article, all you need is to be registered on Mondaq.com.
Click to Login as an existing user or Register so you can print this article.
On Oct. 4, 2019, the DOJ issued guidance for determining whether commercial or financial information provided by a person or company is "confidential" under FOIA Exemption 4.
Fred Geldon discusses how establishing a credible compliance program can help contractors and compliance professionals to manage risks specific to government contracting.
Last week we provided an update outlining the formal process set forth by the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 (ICWPA) for handling the whistleblower complaint that ...
We previously blogged about the animal rights' movement's attempts to convince various U.S. courts to allow animals the same rights as people in the court system.
Gain access to Mondaq global archive of over 375,000 articles covering 200 countries with a personalised News Alert and automatic login on this device.