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In a rare display of solidarity, the United States Senate voted on New Year’s Day 2021 to override President Trump’s veto of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (“FY21 NDAA”). After a December 23rd veto by President Trump, both houses of Congress voted the bill into law with overwhelming support, perpetuating the appropriation bill’s reputation as one of the last remaining must-pass pieces of legislation. The FY21 NDAA authorizes the expenditure of $740 bi

On February 21, 2017, the VA issued a Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) rule change proposing that CVE-verified businesses be reverified for compliance every three years instead of every two years. The VA’s proposal implements a section of the Veterans Benefits, HealthCare, and Information Technology Act of 2006, that requires the VA to verify ownership and control of veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB), including service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB)

There are various Federal Contracts owned by particular classifications of individuals including veterans. The unexpected death of an individual, however, can leave an individual with numerous questions about how ownership of the contract will transfer. This blog post will note some elements of these contracts when the certified owner dies and another individual, which could be a spouse or a child, becomes the new owner of the contract. It is also important to remember that i

In KWV, Inc. v. United States, a disappointed bidder filed a pre-award bid protest of the CVE's denial of their SDVOSB status. In that case, the US Court of Federal Claims found the CVE’s reliance on the Veteran applicant’s residency alone was “arbitrary and capricious” and not in accordance with VA’s regulations.

Should you protest a US Dept. of Veteran Affairs Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) determination with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims? A negative CVE determination can be devastating to your company. On October 10, 2014, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims granted construction company, Ambuild’s, a summary judgment motion in its protest against the CVE and the VA’s OSBDU. According to the case Ambuild Co. LLC v. United States, the protest began after Ambuild successf

Many of my clients express worry about a Small Business Administration (SBA) Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) status protest in the event they are awarded a contract before their CVE certification is complete. This recent ruling from the SBA Office of Hearing and Appeals (OHA) sheds some light on that issue. In ruling in favor of the respondent company on November 6, 2013, the SBA OHA ruled that a "[SDVOSB status] protest merely asserting that the protes

Contracting with the U.S. government can help your business grow and provide it greater stability in difficult times like the pandemic we are experiencing. Government contracting may also sound more difficult than it is. There are multiple opportunities to alleviate this concern for veteran-owned businesses. This includes the federal government’s policy to award at least three percent of all federal contracting dollars to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses each y

Challenges And Delays In the SDVOSB Verification Process

Since the founding of the United States, our government has endeavored to support those who have defended it. A famous quote, incorrectly attributed to George Washington states that “[t]he willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive how the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” The quote itself may not have come from President Washington,