Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Posted September 4, 2025

Risk Too High? GAO Says You Don’t Have to Bid

In Protection Strategies Etc. International, LLC, B-423539 (Aug. 25, 2025), Protection Strategies, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), filed a pre-award protest challenging the terms of a solicitation issued by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) for background investigation support services. The protester objected to the agency’s decision to issue the solicitation as a general small business set-aside, rather than reserving it for SDVOSBs or another small business subcategory. It also raised concerns about the solicitation’s risk structure, particularly the use of a fixed-price contract model and the alleged lack of guaranteed funding for phase-in activities.

Posted May 21, 2025

Deadline Missed, Protest Dismissed: GAO Shuts Down Untimely VA Protest

by Matt Carter

Matt Carter

In A2A Integrated Logistics, Inc., B-423433, May 20, 2025, A2A Integrated Logistics protested a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contract award after learning that its proposal had been rejected due to a technical issue—specifically, the agency’s email server allegedly blocked the submission. A2A maintained that its proposal was timely submitted and should have been considered. However, despite discovering the issue shortly after the submission deadline, A2A waited more than 10 days before filing a formal protest with the agency. After the agency dismissed that protest as untimely, A2A turned to GAO. But GAO likewise dismissed the protest, holding that A2A missed the strict filing deadline and emphasizing that informal communication with the agency does not extend the protest clock.

Posted March 24, 2025

GAO Reinforces Strict Bid Protest Deadlines in SteerBridge Case

by Matt Carter

Matt Carter

In SteerBridge Strategies, LLC, B-422831.2, et al. (Dec. 31, 2024), SteerBridge, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), protested the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to amend, rather than cancel, a solicitation for modern claims processing support services. The company argued that the amendment effectively created an improper sole-source procurement favoring certain competitors and that the VA’s market research was inadequate.

Posted March 18, 2025

No Preselection Here: Court of Federal Claims Rejects Blue Water Thinking’s Protest

by Matt Carter

Matt Carter

In Blue Water Thinking, LLC v. United States, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, No. 24-1641C (March 11, 2025), Blue Water Thinking (BWT) protested a decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to award a Program Support Integration (PSI) contract to GoldPath Communications JV, LLC (GoldPath). BWT argued that: (1) the VA’s best-value trade-off analysis was flawed; (2) GoldPath had an organizational conflict of interest (OCI); (3) the contracting officer preselected GoldPath before conducting the trade-off analysis; and (4) the VA breached its duty to consider proposals fairly.